Maximin, by whose means they were put to death; adding, in the spirit of genuine Christianity, that he looked upon that man as a murderer, who procured the destruction of a fellow-creature, chargeable, in strict justice, with nothing else than being mistaken in his opinions. But in despite of the mild spirit of the gospel, exemplified in every page of the sacred writings, and of the opinions of the primitive fathers, who unanimously condemned persecution for conscience sake, it was not long before those who pretended to be the disciples of Jesus began to imitate the conduct which they had censured in the heathen emperors. When the Roman empire became Christian, it still appeared to the civil magistrate that he was bound to support the religion adopted by the state.—"Hence it was that laws were enacted against heretics, subjecting them to fines, imprisonment, and banishment; with this limitation, however, in every case, that the ecclesiastical judge was to determine whether the opinions professed were heretical or not. The party accused, besides, was usually charged at the same time with the crime of sedition or rebellion; and whenever the punishment was capital, it was understood to be the result chiefly of a criminal opposition to the civil authorities." The law and practice respecting heresy continued in this situation till the commencement of the ninth century. The trial of the whole case was in the hands of the civil magistrate; and, with the exception of ecclesiastical censures, it belonged to councils merely to determine whether the doctrine libelled was or was not heretical. In succeeding centuries, however, the power of the ecclesiastical tribunals, and of the papacy itself, increased in a most extraordinary degree. The zeal which animated the Church against heretics became fierce and ungovernable, and all who dared to advance sentiments opposed to those enjoined by the Romish hierarchy, were subjected to persecution in every form. "In the following ages," says Limborch, when speaking of the sixth and subsequent centuries, "the affairs of the Church were so managed under the government of the Popes, and all persons so strictly curbed by the severity of the laws, that they durst not even so much as whisper against the received opinions of the Church. Besides this, so deep was the ignorance that had spread itself over the world, that men, without the least regard to knowledge and learning, received, with blind obedience, every thing that the ecclesiastics ordered them, however stupid and superstitious, without any examination; and if any one dared in the least to contradict them, he was sure immediately to be punished; whereby the most absurd opinions came to be established by the violence of the Popes."