"an all-pervading poison-vapour, taints the whole 'atmosphere of our social life" (Felix L. Oswald, The Secret of the East, pp. 41-2).

Two

"On the altar of her anti-natural idol the Christian "Church has sacrificed the lives of eighteen millions "of the noblest and bravest of our fellow men. "millions were butchered in the wars against the "freedom-loving children of nature, the Saxons, the "Sarmatians, and the pagan Scandinavians; one "million in the wars against the Arian heretics; at "least five millions in the seven larger and four "smaller crusades. The extermination of the Spanish "Saracens reduced the population of the peninsula "by seven millions. One million was slaughtered "in the fifteen years' man-hunt against the Albi"genses, the thirty years' war against the Protestant "princes, the massacres of the French Huguenots, "the Waldenses, and the insurgents of the Nether"lands. A full million human lives were devoured "by the Moloch of the Holy Inquisition and the "witch tribunals, which for nearly seven centuries "infested all the principal cities of Christian Europe. "To this number we might add the twelve million "aborigines of the New World, who in less than a "century fell victims to the insane fury of their "Christian conquerors and the unremitting persecu"tions of the Christian Inquisition" (Ibid., pp. 82–3). "In many parts of Spain there were six friars and "two priests for every dozen working men (Ibid., P. 94).

"Between 1500 and 1580 the Inquisition murdered "two hundred and seventy thousand nonconformists. "Nine-tenths of these were American pagans and "Spanish Mohammedans and Jews; the rest were "Caucasian sceptics" (Ibid., p. 100).

"The systematic murder of all avowed Freethinkers "had emasculated the national mind. They were "contentedly ignorant. They had ceased to despise "mental prostitution. They had come to enjoy the "ceremonies and wretched mummeries of their "Church" (Ibid., p. 111).

THE MURDER OF HYPATIA AND OF

BRUNO

In this welter of bloody persecution two martyrfigures stand out with especial prominence-Hypatia of Alexandria and Giordano Bruno of Rome. The death of Hypatia is not one of those cases in which an "unbeliever" was tried by the Church, and handed over to the civil power with a hypocritical "recommendation to mercy." But the religious fanaticism of the Christians of Alexandria and the monks of the district who barbarously slew her is directly attributable to their leaders and to the fanaticism of the Bible. As a matter of fact, few historians doubt that Bishop Cyril of Alexandria had a more direct guilt in connection with the murder of Hypatia, and the imperial authorities afterwards censured him. I give the story in the words of Draper, with one correction. Hypatia was not a young woman at the time of her death, as is commonly supposed, since Kingsley made her young in his famous novel. The ancient chronicles show that she had passed her fiftieth year, if not sixtieth, and was the most influential and respected citizen of Alexandria. This does but enhance the brutality of the murder. Draper says:"Among the cultivators of Platonic philosophy "whom the times had spared there was a beautiful "young woman, Hypatia, the daughter of Theon, the "mathematician, who not only distinguished herself "by her expositions of the Neo-Platonic and Peri"patetic doctrines, but was also honoured for the

"ability with which she commented on the writings "of Apollonius and other geometers. Every day "before her door stood a long train of chariots; "her lecture-room was crowded with the wealth and "fashion of Alexandria. Her aristocratic audiences "were more than a rival to those attending upon the 'preaching of the archbishop, and perhaps con"temptuous comparisons were instituted between "the philosophical lectures of Hypatia and the "incomprehensible sermons of Cyril. But if the "archbishop had not philosophy, he had what on "such occasions is more valuable-power. It was "not to be borne that a heathen sorceress should "thus divide such a metropolis with a prelate; it was 'not to be borne that the rich, and noble, and young "should thus be carried off by the black arts of a "diabolical enchantress. Alexandria was too fair a "prize to be lightly surrendered. It could vie with "Constantinople itself. Into its streets, from the "yellow sand-hills of the desert, long trains of "camels and countless boats brought the abundant "harvests of the Nile. A ship-canal connected the "harbour of Eunostos with Lake Mareotis. The "harbour was a forest of masts. Seaward, looking "over the blue Mediterranean, was the great light"house, the Pharos, counted as one of the wonders "of the world; and to protect the shipping from the "north wind there was a mole three-quarters of a mile "in length, with its drawbridges, a marvel of the skill "of the Macedonian engineers. Two great streets "crossed each other at right-angles; one was three, "the other one mile long. In the square where they "intersected stood the mausoleum in which rested the "body of Alexander. The city was full of noble "edifices-the palace, the exchange, the Cæsareum,

"the halls of justice. Among the temples, those of "Pan and Neptune were conspicuous. The visitor "passed countless theatres, churches, temples, synagogues. There was a time before Theophilus when "the Serapion might have been approached on one "side by a slope for carriages, on the other by a flight "of a hundred marble steps. On these stood the "grand portico, with its columns, its chequered "corridor leading round a roofless hall, the adjoin"ing porches of which contained the library, and "from the midst of its area arose a lofty pillar visible 66 "afar off at sea. On one side of the town were the "royal docks; on the other the Hippodrome; and on appropriate sites the Necropolis, the market-places, "the gymnasium, its stoa being a stadium long; the amphitheatre, groves, gardens, fountains, obelisks, "and countless public buildings with gilded roofs "glittering in the sun. Here might be seen the "wealthy Christian ladies walking in the streets, "their dresses embroidered with Scripture parables, "the Gospels hanging from their necks by a golden "chain, Maltese dogs with jewelled collars frisking "round them, and slaves with parasols and fans. trooping along. There might be seen the evertrading, ever-thriving Jew, fresh from the wharves, "or busy negotiating his loans. But, worst of all, the "chariots with giddy or thoughtful pagans hasten"ing to the academy of Hypatia, to hear those questions discussed which have never yet been "answered: Where am I?' 'What am I?' 'What "can I know?'-to hear discourses on antenatal “existence, or, as the vulgar asserted, to find out the "future by the aid of the black art, soothsaying by "Chaldee talismans engraved on precious stones, by "incantations with a glass and water, by moonshine