II
THE HERMITS
The first effort of the Apostles towards the establishment
of Christianity was along the way of Martha—the
sharing out of the money and the starting of
a sort of Christian-socialist state. But life taught
them that this was impracticable, and they and all
the early Christians soon found themselves working
and living and praying in an altogether different
way—driven into the wilderness, stoned out of cities,
hounded into gaol, faced with the horrors of torture
or barbarous execution. There were soon more
Christians in the desert places of the earth, living in
caves and in forests, than there were in the towns
and villages. Some fled from persecution, others
were driven by the Spirit; and no doubt all, when
they found themselves cut off from the world, began
to share in the meditative idea of Christianity.
They obtained the consolation of wanderers, and
found a new significance in the promise of the
Comforter. They had visions; they met the resurrected
spirits of those who had died in the Lord.
The strange life they had to live brought a romantic
