Million Book Collection - The Fishers of Men Ministries

THE SECOND AGE OF THE MARTYR CHURCH.293Roman gentleman and noble, ft a W blending N-'A^^-LA-V-^L-l-AJ.w- of allthat was best in Cicero, Laalius, and Cato, whomMarcus made Prefect of Rome, and to whom whenbearing that office he addressed a rescript containingO the words, / " to Junius Rusticus, * Prefectof the city, our friend." And what this friend ofMarcus thought on the most important subjectswe may judge from the sentiments of anotherfriend and fellow - teacher of the emperor, Maxi-mus of Tyre, who has left written, "how Godrules a mighty and stable kingdom having for its-limits not river or lake or shore or ocean, * but theheaven above and the earth beneath, in whichimpassive as law, bestows on those who obey himthe security of which He is the fountain : and thegods his children need not images any more thangood men statues. But just as our vocal speechrequires not in itself any particular characters,yet human weakness has invented the alphabeticalsigns whereby to give expression to its remembrance,so the nature of the erods needs not im-ages, but man, removed from them as far as heavenfrom earth, has devised these signs, by wiiich togive them names. There may be those strongenough to do without these helps, but they arerare, and as schoolmasters guide their scholars towrite by first pencilling letters for them, so legislatorshave invented these images as signs of thedivine honour, and helps to human memory. ButGod is the father and framer of all things, older