The only way to justify this omission was, to attack the authenticity of the Acts of the Apostles; for, if authentic, they must necessarily be consulted and quoted.

Now, antiquity has left very few works of which the authenticity is so well established as that of the Acts of the Apostles.

(See Lardner's Cred.

of Gospel Hist.

part iii.) It is therefore, without sufficient reason, that Gibbon has maintained silence concerning the narrative of St.Luke, and this omission is not without importance .-- G.] The sectaries of a persecuted religion, depressed by fear animated with resentment, and perhaps heated by enthusiasm, are seldom in a proper temper of mind calmly to investigate, or candidly to appreciate, the motives of their enemies, which often escape the impartial and discerning view even of those who are placed at a secure distance from the flames of persecution.