Psyria or Syria--either of these names representing an island in
the Aegean Sea not far from Smyrna. Ignatius, the confessor of
Philippi, when in bonds wrote, as we find, a number of letters
which were deemed worthy of preservation, but which have long
since perished; and some time afterwards an adroit forger, with a
view to the advancement of a favourite ecclesiastical system,
concocted a series of letters which he fathered upon Ignatius of
Antioch. In an uncritical age the cheat succeeded; the letters
were quite to the taste of many readers; and ever since they have
been the delight of High Churchmen. Popes and Protestant prelates
alike have perused them with devout enthusiasm; and no wonder that
Archbishop Laud, Bishop Jeremy Taylor, Bishop Hall, and Archbishop
Wake, have quoted Ignatius with applause. The letters ascribed to
him are the title-deeds of their order. Even the worthy Bishop of
Durham, who has never permitted himself to doubt that we possess
in some form the letters of the pastor of Antioch, has been the
victim of his own credulity; and has been striving "off and on"
for "nearly thirty years" to establish the credit of Epistles
which teach, in the most barefaced language the gospel of
sacerdotal pretension and passive obedience.





CHAPTER III.

THE DATE OF THE MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARP.