Page:Three introductory lectures on the study of ecclesiastical history.djvu/77

III.] ecclesiastical story, this has always commanded a reverential, even an excessive attention.

Let us also remember, that what there is of instruction here, is exactly of the kind which we ought to expect. Christianity affects the springs of action, rather than the actions themselves; from its very beginning it has been seen in the lowly rather than the lofty places of the world; in the manger of Bethlehem, in the peasants of Galilee, in the caves and dens of the earth: we may therefore fairly look for its chief influences out of the beaten track of history; when we cannot trace it on the great highway of the world, we may fairly conclude that its effects will be found in the corners and pathways of life:—

On the other hand, if we turn from the case of individual Christians to the case of the great masses of individuals which form the main bulk of the Church,—they, too, have a lesson to teach, less palpable, but by no means to be despised, though it has been sometimes pushed to exaggeration.

We know the old saying of Vincentius, "Quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus," "Believe what has been believed always, everywhere, and by everybody." It is needless to repeat the arguments by which it can be shewn that, in a literal sense,