THE WORLD'S FAMOUS ORATIONS
shame, not to say fearful condemnation, that we have so well known the truth of God and have so little courage to maintain it!
Above all, when we look to the martyrs of past times, well may we detest our own cowardice! The greater part of those were not persons much versed in holy Scripture, so as to be able to dispute on all subjects. They knew that there was one God, whom they behooved to worship and serve; that they had been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, in order that they might place their confidence of salvation in Him and in His grace; and that, all the inventions of men being mere dross and rubbish, they ought to condemn all idolatries and superstitions. In one word, their theology was in substance this: There is one God, who created all the world, and declared His will to us by Moses and the Prophets, and finally by Jesus Christ and His apostles; and we have one sole Redeemer, who purchased us by His blood, and by whose grace we hope to be saved; all the idols of the world are cursed, and deserve execration.
With a system embracing no other points than these, they went boldly to the flames or to any other kind of death. They did not go in twos or threes, but in such bands that the number of those who fell by the hands of tyrants is almost infinite. We, on our part, are such learned clerks, that none can be more so (so at least we think), and, in fact, so far as regards the knowledge of Scripture, God has so spread it out
54
