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 with an  end  in  view  which  all  could  understand  and appreciate, its  success  was  assured  from  the  beginning. But in  her  very  beginning  the  Church  was handicapped. A few  miserable,  unlettered  fishermen confronting a  world  of  Pagan  idolaters  and  fanatical Jews, preaching  them  a  gospel  antagonistic  to  their inclinations and  prejudices;  commanding  the  former to abandon  their  idols,  and  the  latter  to  renounce their ancient  traditions;  preaching  peace  and  good will to  savage  warriors;  supplanting  Venus  with Mary, and  Bacchus  with  a  figure  of  temperance  and mortification; commanding  assent  to  doctrines  they themselves did  not  even  pretend  to  understand,  and when asked:  "Whence  your  authority?" they answered: "The  village  carpenter  of  Nazareth." "Whom shall  we  adore?" "Yonder felon  on  the cross." "What shall  we  hope  for,  what  shall  we fear?  "  "  A  heaven  and  a  hell  whose  existence  we cannot  even  prove." What wonder  King  Agrippa laughed at  St.  Paul  and  told  him  to  "  go  to,  for  a learned  madman." But madness  though  it  were,  still there was  method  in  it,  for  this  doctrine  and  the Church that  preached  it  spread  everywhere,  invaded every  country,  and,  in  the  face  of  seemingly insurmountable obstacles,  everywhere  overcame. And wherever  the  Church  went,  there  immediately began to  be  felt  the  humanizing  effects  of  Christianity. Liberty, equality,  and  fraternity  was  her  motto. Liberty for  the  wife  and  mother  from  the  thraldom of her  lord;  liberty  for  the  slave  from  the  yoke  of  his master; liberty  for  the  sinner  from  the  dominion  of