tures were at that time very little known in the
world." *

The Rev. Dr. Maitland, a Protestant clergymaii,
thus writes: "I believe that the idea which many
persons have of ecclesiastical history may be briefly
stated thns : that the. Christian Church was a small,
scattered, and persecuted flock until the time of Con-
stantine ; that then, at once, and as if by magic, the
Roman world became Christian ; that this universal
Christianity, not being of a very pure, solid, or dura-
ble nature, melted down into a filthy mass called
Popery, which held its place during the dark ages,
untn the revival of pagan literature and the conse-
quent march of intellect sharpened men's wits and
brought about the Reformation, when it was discov-
ered that i'h.Q Pope was Antichrist, and that the saints
had been in the hands of the little horn predicted by
the prophet Daniel, for hundreds of years, without
knowing so awful a fact or suspecting anything of the
kind." t

In connection with this common view of the mid-
dle ages among Protestants is the almost universal
opinion that "the Bible was nearly unknown, and
that, discovered by their religious progenitors, it is
in a special sense their property.- They brought it

* Milner, Vol. IV. p. 334. f Maitland, " Dark Ages," p. 188.
Pretensions of the Reformers. 15

into light, and made it the rule of faith and practice.
