The enemies of Christianity have affected to lament the effects produced by the religion of Jesus on the art and science of the pagan world; it has been said that the early Christians became so indifferent to the welfare of their bodies that they no longer sought medical aid when sick, but either resigned themselves to death or sought remedies in prayers. It is quite possible that, at the soul’s awakening at the first revelation of the infinite importance of the spiritual life, men did somewhat neglect the ailments of the flesh and forget them in the effort to realize the things of the spirit. It is perfectly true that the natural sciences were not likely to make much progress in such a condition of things. But if Christians were careless of their own health, it is not less certain that they were intensely solicitous for that of their poor and friendless neighbours. The peculiar constitution of the Roman Empire, which was but a military tyranny, greatly contributed to its fall, and the collapse would have come earlier had it not been for Christianity. The Empire had very little cohesion; the Church had a cohesive force, such as the world had never experienced before, and the Church availed herself of all the facilities which the Empire possessed of keeping up, from centre to circumference, the circulation of the spirit of solidarity which has ever animated the Catholic body. Of course there was little reason to expect the Church to be very favourably disposed towards the philosophies of old Greece and Rome; they had done little for the moral and social welfare of the people, and the Church had a better system than these could exhibit: but when St Augustine appeared, there was found a _modus vivendi_ between the noblest Platonism and the purest and loftiest Christian theology. He pointed the way towards a Christian science, and Europe ultimately realized it. It was found in the Schoolmen. Modern science is the legitimate child of Scholasticism, though it is unsparing in its abuse of its parent. The slave to the ancient Roman was simply a beast who was able to speak. When such beasts became unprofitable, because through sickness or old age they could no longer work, they were frequently turned out to perish. Cato advised the agriculturists to sell their old and sick slaves when no longer able to work, just as he recommended them to dispose of worn-out and diseased cattle and worthless implements of husbandry.[523]