bring ruin upon the very existence of his tribe. His suspicions, truly,
are not without foundation; but they do not excuse the temper with which
he regards us. I cast no imputation upon the virtues of friend Isaac, in
what I say. The very spirit of universal love, I believe, reigns in his
soul. Would that all of his race were like him.'

'What you say is new and strange,' I replied. 'I may possibly bring shame
upon myself, by saying so, but it is true. I have been accustomed to
regard Christians and Jews as in effect one people; one, I mean, in
opinion and feeling. But in truth I know nothing. You are not ignorant of
the prejudice which exists toward both these races, on the part of the
Romans. I have yielded, with multitudes around me, to prevailing ideas,
taking no steps to learn their truth or error. Our writers, from Tacitus
to the base tools--for such they must have been--who lent themselves to
the purposes of the bigot Macrianus, and who filled the city with their
accounts of the Christians, have all agreed in representing your faith as
a dark and mischievous superstition. I have, indeed, been struck with the
circumstance, that while the Jews make no converts from among us, great
numbers are reported to have joined the Christians; and of those, not a
few of the higher orders. The late Emperor Philip, I think it clear, was a
Christian. This might have taught me that there is a wide difference
between the Christian and the Jew. But the general hatred toward both the
one and the other, together with the persecutions to which they have been
exposed, have made me more than indifferent to their merits,'

'I trust the time will come,' replied the Christian, 'when our cause will
be examined on the ground of its merits. Why may we not believe that it
has now come? The Roman world is at peace. A strong and generous prince
is upon the throne. Mild and just laws restrain the furious bigotry of an
ignorant and sanguinary priesthood. Men of intelligence and virtue adorn