Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/46

34 of becoming acquainted with the truth have not been wanting to the Orientals, and yet they are still plunged in the grossest error. That East, from which we received our light, is herself in the thickest darkness; but it is not the fault of the people of the West, who have returned again and again to their aged parent; not like the poor and destitute prodigal son, but radiant in light, and with their hands full of celestial gifts.

One of the earliest apostles of the remote East, was St. Pantenus, a Sicilian by birth, who lived towards the end of the second century. He had applied himself much to the study of eloquence, and of the Stoical philosophy, and afterwards having become a Christian, entered the Church, and employed his talents in endeavouring to throw light on the divine mysteries of Christianity. From a motive of humility, he lived, after his baptism, in the closest retirement, and Clement of Alexandria long sought for him in vain, though his search, say the writers of the time, was conducted with "the ardour of a huntsman pursuing his game in the recesses of the forest." He at last found him in Egypt, passing a life of seclusion and solitude, devoted to prayer, meditation, and the study of holy books. Up to that time Clement had studied under various masters, but having now formed an intimate friendship with Pantenus, he discovered in him such great talents, such a rich treasury of divine wisdom, that he thought he should need no other guide to lead him to the summit of Christian philosophy. Thenceforward, Pantenus shed such glory on the town of Alexandria, that the Bishop Julian charged him with the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures in that famous school.