And thus have I brought the History of Persecution down to our own times, and nation; and shewn how all parties have, in their turns of power, been sharers in this guilt. If church history would have afforded me a better account, I assure my reader he should have had it told with pleasure. The story, as it is, I have told with grief. But it is time to dismiss him from so ungrateful an entertainment, and see what useful reflections we can make on the whole. CONCLUSION. [Illustration] SECT. I. _The Clergy the great promoters of persecution._ It is a truth too evident to be denied, that the clergy in general, throughout almost all the several ages of the christian church; have been deep and warm in the measures of persecution; as though it had been a doctrine expressly inculcated in the sacred writings, and recommended by the practice of our Saviour and his apostles. Indeed, could such a charge as this have been justly fixed on the great author of our religion, or the messengers he sent into the world to propagate it; I think it would have been such an evidence of its having been dictated by weak or wicked, or worldly-minded men, as nothing could possibly have disproved. But that christianity might be free from every imputation of this kind, God was pleased to send his son into the world, without any of the advantages of worldly riches and grandeur, and absolutely to disclaim all the prerogatives of an earthly kingdom. His distinguishing character was that of “meek and lowly;” and the methods by which he conquered and triumphed over his enemies, and drew all men to him, was “patience and constancy, even to the death.” And when he sent out his own apostles, he sent them out but poorly furnished, to all human appearance, for their journey;[373] “without staves, or scrip, or bread, or money,” to let them know that he had but little of this world to give them; and that their whole dependence was on Providence. ----- Footnote 373: Luke ix. 3. -----