n the contrary, he
prays God for them, "_because it is He who gives to the soul that invokes
Him, faith, grace, peace, patience, and wisdom_." St Polycarp, bishop of
Smyrna, who lived in the second century, addressed a letter to the
Philippians, but he says nothing in it to recommend the invocation of St
Paul, who was the founder of their church, and as such would have been
considered as its patron saint, had the worship of the saints been at that
time already introduced amongst the Christians. The most important and
positive proof that the primitive Christians, not only did not pay any
adoration to the martyrs, but decidedly rejected it, is the epistle which
was issued by the church of Smyrna after the martyrdom of its bishop, whom
I have just mentioned. It states that the Pagans had, at the instigation
of the Jews, closely watched the Christians, imagining that they would
endeavour to carry away the ashes of Polycarp in order to worship him
after his death, because these idolaters knew not that the Christians
cannot abandon Jesus Christ, _or worship any one else_. "_We worship_,"
says the same document, "_Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God_; but with
regard to the martyrs, the disciples of Christ and imitators of his
virtues, _we love them, as they deserve it, on account of the
unconquerable love which they had for their Master and King; and would to
God that we should become their disciples and partakers of their zeal_."

I could multiply proofs of this kind without end, but I shall only
observe, that even in the fourth century the orthodox Christians
considered the worship of every created being as idolatry, because the
opponents of the Arians, who considered Jesus Christ as created and not
co-essential with God the Father, employed the following argument to
combat this dogma:--"If you consider Jesus Christ a created being, you
commit idolatry by worshipping him."

Admiration is, however, akin to adoration, and it was no wonder that those
whose memory was constantly praised, and frequently in the most
exaggerated terms, gradually began to be considered as something more than
simple mortals, and treated accordingly. It was also very natural that
various objects which had belonged to the martyrs were carefully preserved
as interesting mementoes, since it is continually done with persons who
have acquired some kind of celebrity, and that this should be the case
with their bodies, which have often been embalmed. It is,