whether God would fight for the Romans, if they were to become converts to the worship of the Most High—chaps. lxix., lxx. Further misrepresentations of Celsus pointed out—chap. lxxi. Time will come when the Word will change every soul into His own perfections—chap. lxxii. Celsus enjoins us to help the king with all our might, and, if required, to fight under him, or lead an army along with him: Answer—chap. lxxiii. Also to take office in the government of the country, if necessary for the maintenance of the laws and the support of religion: Answer—chap. lxxv. Conclusion, in which Origen mentions that Celsus had announced his intention of writing a second treatise, which Origen requests Ambrose to send him if he should have carried his intentions into execution. LIFE OF ORIGEN. Origen was born in all probability at Alexandria, about the year 185 A.D.[1] Notwithstanding that his name is derived from that of an Egyptian deity (Horus or Or[2]), there seems no reason to doubt that his parents were Christian at the time of his birth. His father Leonides was probably, as has been conjectured,[3] one of the many teachers of rhetoric or grammar who abounded in that city of Grecian culture, and appears to have been a man of decided piety. Under his superintendence, the youthful Origen was not only educated in the various branches of Grecian learning, but was also required daily to commit to memory and to repeat portions of Scripture prescribed him by his father; and while under this training, the spirit of inquiry into the meaning of Scripture, which afterwards formed so striking a feature in the literary character of the great Alexandrine, began to display itself. Eusebius[4] relates that he was not satisfied with the plain and obvious meaning of the text, but sought to penetrate into its deeper signification, and caused his father trouble by the questions which he put to him regarding the sense of particular passages of Holy Writ. Leonides, like many parents, assumed the appearance of rebuking the curiosity of the boy for inquiring into things which were beyond his youthful capacity, and recommended him to be satisfied with the simple and apparent meaning of Scripture, while he is described as inwardly rejoicing at the signs of talent exhibited by his son, and as giving thanks to God for having made him the parent of such a child.[5] But this state of things was not to last; for in the year 202, when Origen was about seventeen years of age, the great persecution of the Christians under Septimius Severus broke out, and among the victims was his father Leonides, who was apprehended and put in prison. Origen wished to share the fate of his father, but was prevented from quitting his home by the artifice of his mother, who was obliged to conceal his clothes to prevent him from carrying out his purpose! He wrote to his father, however, a letter, exhorting him to