Remarques relating to the state of the church of the first centuries wherein are intersperst animadversions on J.H.'s View of antiquity.

Remarques Relating to the STATE OF THE CHURCH OF THE First Centuries : Wherein are intersperst ANIMADVERSIONS ON J. H. 's View of Antiquity .

〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 .

Greg. Naz. to . 1. Orat. 18. p. 274.

Quomodo fidem eorum possumus denegare , quorum victoriam praedicamus ?

Ambros . de fide ad Gratian. lib. 3. cap. 7.

LONDON , Printed for Ric. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in S. Paul's Church-yard . MDCLXXX .

TO THE LEARNED Dr. WILLIAM CAVE .

TO you , Sir , who have so well merited of the present Age , by the faithful and accurate account , which you have given the World , of the Primitive Times , is this Address presented , as a just Tribute from one , who professes himself a passionate admirer of the antient Vsages , and for that reason a most obedient Son of our holy Mother , the most Oxthodox , and pure , the best govern'd , and regular part of the Catholick Church ; who having nothing else to ingratiate him to the Wise and Learned , would make his Veneration for the oldest , i. the best Religion , a pretence for his intrusion ; and I should be unjust to that duty , in which all the lovers of sacred History stand bound to your charity to the despised ( because seemingly antiquated ) Rites of Christianity , which you have with a manly courage , and much gallantry asserted , had I omitted this opportunity of letting you know , how gratefully an unknown Disciple of yours relishes such instances of your generosity and care in collecting and preserving the scattered Reliques of the most reverend , and brave Assertors of the Christian Doctrine . And when I once began to indulge to such Sentiments , I was of a sudden conquer'd by an insatiable desire of serving you ; And though it may seem a debasing of your worth , which I intend to celebrate , to intitle you to the Patronage of this Trifle , yet I was not willing to baffle my resolutions , because I knew , that the meanest Sacrisice assumes a lustre from the piety of the Devoto ; although here I should have sate down contented to have offer'd a poor and despicable Present on my private Altar , and never coveted the calling of the World to see so impertinent , and unbecoming an Oblation , had not the interests of Religion compell'd me to appear , when the more concern'd thought it not worth the while to stifle , and oppose an imperious Aggressor , who to promote the novelties of late days , takes Sanctuary in the remotest Antiquity , and would fain engage the best of Christians , the Fathers , to protect and countenance him , who by his close insinuations , and clandestine practices , is so ready to put a Masque on the Face of the most beautiful Truths , and in that odd dress render them ridiculous : while the Mushroom-Opinions , that were the Birth of yesterday , or in former Ages branded as notorious Heresies , must be recorded as the only Rule of Orthodoxy .

Sir , my thoughts were some years since fixt on the Primitive Christianity , and in the midst of my Design I was happily superseded by your more successful and comprehensive industry ; and I was not a little proud , that Mankind were rescued from the impertinencies of my Scrible , and treated in a more satisfactory way in your exquisite and complete Collections , where the Heterodox and Obstinate , the Factious and Schismatical may contemplate the Beauty , Order , and Decorum of the Temple-Service ; where the fierce and brutish , the uncharitable and censorious , may be Converts to the generous examples of that Religion which is pure and peaceable ; where the ill-natur'd and debauch'd , the lustful and intemperate , may be invited to become Scholars to that Easter , who teaches Men to deny ungodliness and carnal lusts , and to live soberly , and righteously , and godly in the World . And had the Author of the View of Antiquity been so just to his own reputation , and the interests of the Church , as he ought , he also might have found reason to stifle his design , and confine his Papers to his private Study , when your Apostolici bespoke the Press ; for his intentions were thereby forestall'd , and his Reader engaged to be severe , since after the delicacies of such a Treat , as your Book affords , it were insufferable Penance to be condemned to Bread and Water ; although were there nothing but the coarseness of the Fare to be apologiz'd for , it were easily pardonable , but when it is both mouldy and unseasonably serv'd in , it cannot but nauseate .

To rescue therefore the ignorant and unwary , first engaged me to this making my self publick , that such little arts might not impose on the credulous , and whatever was so stiled , might not presently commence Antiquity ; which Essay could poorly have pretended to the shadow of hopes of success , had not your light directed me , and the account you give of the Apostles Disciples in the three first Centuries unriddled many obscure passages to me , so that this gives you a new title to my Productions , which if they may merit your pardon , and any way promote the veneration of those best days , and practices , will over and above satisfie the expectations , and comport with the ambition of ,

Sir , Your most faithful , humble Servant . A. S. Sept. 10. 1678.

TO THE READER .

AMong all the instances of the Antients prudence , and sage managery of their Affairs , this was not the meanest , that they thought not every man fit to be honoured with the Imploy of an Historian , and intrusted to communicate the Affairs of the Common-Wealth to Posterity , but selected a peculiar Order of learned , and faithful , of wise , and venerable persons to be the Conservers of their Records , to transmit their remarkable Actions to the admiration and use of future Ages , and to give their Bravery and Virtue its due immortality . Hence among the Aegyptians , Babylonians , a a Joseph . contra Appion . lib. 1. init . Jews and Romans none , but their Priests , were dignified with this Office , a great part of the reputation , and interest of every State depending on the just and impartial Registry of their Atchievements . But how strangely have succeeding Ages degenerated from that excellent Pattern ? Every man now thinks himself fit to write an History , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. Lucian . quom . Histor. scribenda sit , tom. 1. p. 347. accounting it his particular Province , and an undertaking as facile , as to eat or drink , to use his feet or his eyes ; as if the whole of an Historian were only to ly down and dream of Inspirations , and Antiquity , and start up a Thucydides , or a Xenophon ; as if nothing in nature were so easily attainable , as to be able to give the World an account of the greatest Exemplars of Virtue , and the most debauch'd Prostitutes of Vice , to unravel the various Mysteries of Providence , and declare the causes of the ruine or advance of Empires , and all the changes , that happen in a Nation , to Chronicle the Rewards of Piety , and the Punishments of Villany , and men could safely sport themselves no where , but over the Graves of their Progenitors ,

But the Judicious and Learned have required extraordinary qualifications in him , that would be a Harbinger to Fame , and keep the publick Archives of a People ; they tell us , that no man should dare to look toward the writing of a History , that is not Master of a great Industry , and unwearied Diligence , in collecting all sorts of Materials for the raising such a Fabrick , of a searching judgment and sublime acumen , to preserve him from being impos'd on by falshood , and led by an ignis fatuus , instead of true and genuine light , and above all of a severe and unbyast honesty , that will undauntedly tell the truth , and discourse not as a party , but an impartial and unprejudic'd Relator : and as the Author must be thus furnish'd ; So they tell us , Lips . not . in lib. 1. Politic. cap. 9. his Productions must have these similar accomplishments . 1. Truth , in the veracity of all passages , that nothing be altered , conceal'd , or diminish'd , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Lucian ubi supr. p. 351. for he is a betrayer of verity , not only who tells a lye , but who does not freely tell the truth ; and that man , who hath not laid aside all affection , and partiality , forgot his Country , and Relations , and is in love only with Sincerity , is unfit to be an Historian . How unworthily hath Socrates of old made every passage of his Church History , that relates to the Novatian controversie , favourable to that Schism ? How does he claw the Phrygians , the greatest Body of that Faction , and praise them for their Abstinence and other Christian virtues , and at the same time depreciate Saint John Chrysostome , and blame him for his heat and ungovern'd passions , for his craft and injustice ? In like manner , how does Philostorgius use all his art to make the Arian dogma pass for the only Orthodoxy ? How does he celebrate Aëtius , and the other prime Assertors of that impious Heresie , but discountenance Athanasius , hardly allowing him to be honest or learned ? And to omit others , hath not the famous Baronius done so , who would have merited more than the World could have paid him , Ut. eujus 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , atque industriam neque mirari , neque praedicare satis possumus , ejus fidem innumeris in locis vel inviti cogamur desiderare . Casaub . Epist. dedicat . ante exercit . adv. Baron . had he always throughout his Annals sacrific'd on the Altar of Truth , whereas now , while we can never sufficiently admire or magnifie his infinite reading , variety of learning , and industry , we are compell'd to complain of his want of fidelity ? 2. Plainness in an orderly and perspicuous disposal of narrations of the causes , effects , and circumstances , why , how , and to what purpose affairs were managed , without which , says Polybius , any Essay of this nature is rather a ridiculous Fable than a sober Story ; which plainness must also be observ'd in the Style , that it be not abstruse or intricate , Poetical or bombast , ragged or dull , but continued with great evenness , and a taking smoothness . 3. Judgment , not publishing things on hear-say , or stuffing a Book with Enthusiastick Legends , and strange performances , or oracular Dreams and Visions , the great fault of Gregory Turonensis , and them that succeeded him , which made some question , whether any man should be allowed to write a History , who had not been on the place , and an eye-witness of the transactions ; nor yet intermixing trifling and foolish circumstances , wild , impertinent , and absurd narrations , such as Saint Francis's calling the Swallows and Grashoppers , the Hares and Lambs , Brothers and Sisters in Antoninus , or his undertaking to teach a Sheep to adore the Eucharist in Bonaventure , and a thousand such equally to be rank'd with the prudence of that German , who among other instances of the humility , modesty , and condescension of one of their Henries , reckons this , that he was well contented to mend his own Breeches , whereas nothing insignificant , or trifling should debase the grandeur of a History , nothing should be intersperst , but what is necessarily subservient to the illustration of Affairs .

And if such exact care , fidelity and discretion ought to be exerted in the Records of our secular concerns , how much more studiously should the matters of our biggest and best Interests be managed ? That the History of the Church suffer not at the hands of its profest Friends , whose negligence or ignorance , whose want of wit or honesty , may signally disserve Religion ; for I suppose no man is now to be convinc'd , how conducive the acquaintance with those primitive and purest Ages is , to the fitting a man for the noblest and most sacred researches , since that Maxime of the most learned Viscount Saint Albans hath hitherto commenc'd Oracle , Advancement of Learning , p. 105. Edit. Angl. 1633. That it is not Saint Austins , or Saint Ambrose 's Works , that will make so wise a Divine , as Ecclesiastical History well read and observed . And that though Bellarmine was a man of vast Parts , and his Controversies deservedly famous , Montague against Selden of Tithes p. 19 yet that it is Baronius , who is the Atlas of that Church , and that the surest way to confound oppositions and Schismaticks in controverted cases of Discipline , were to have the Face of the Primitive Church-Polity drawn to the Life out of the authentick Writings , and especially the Epistles of the antient Fathers , at least till the time of the Chalcedon Council inclusively ; for he must be a man of a Brazen-Face , and a Leaden Heart , that will opine , or oppose against the well known , and allowable practices of the Ancients .

But Ecclesiastical History , like the Church , whose Amanuensis it was , had its infancy and youth , its maturity and old Age , and after all an unexpected renovation , and return to its briskness and vigour . The first Essay towards an account of the affairs of the Church ( after what the Evangelical Registers give us ) was undertook by those Notaries , who probably , circ. an . Chr. 92. Pontificat . in vit . Clement . tom. 1. Concil. were deputed by Saint Clemens the Bishop of Rome , in his own Church , and likely by other Prelates after his example , in theirs , to transcribe the Acts of the Martyrs , the particulars of their Discourses , and the circumstances of their Sufferings , that in those Ages of persecutions others might be encouraged to ambition the same Crown . Vetustissima Ecclesiae martyria , quorum lectione piorum animus ita afficitur , ut nunquam satur inde recedat : Certè ego nihil unquam ●n Historia Ecclesiasticâ vidi , à cujus lectione commotior recedam , ut non amplius meus esse videar . De actis Martyrii Polycarpiani , &c. Jos. Scaliger not . in Euseb. Chron. an . MMCLXXXIII . p. 202. Edit. Lugdun . Bat. 1606. But this course not being found sufficient to transmit all the illustrious transactions of the Church to Posterity , * * Euseb. Hist. lib. 4. cap. 8. & Steph. Gobarus apud Phot. cod . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 472. Hegesippus circ. an. 168. sets about the writing a Body of Ecclesiastical History , in his five Books of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or Commentaries ; and because his Memoires as to matter of Fact were very exact , but in point of Chronology not so accurate ; † † Euseb. lib. 1. c. 6 , 7. & lib. 6. cap. 24. Julius Afri canus undertook the rectifying the accounts of Times , and adjusting proper Epocha's to every remarkable accident . And by this means the Church History grew up , and gather'd strength , till it attain'd to its 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , its full maturity and growth under Eusebius , Hist. l. 1. c. 1. who complaining of his being engaged in a desart and untrod way with signal accuracy , and unwearied diligence gives us the best prospect could be expected , of the three first Centuries , and so in some measure satisfied the World for the loss of those forementioned Writers ) which Method was continued , but with less skill and accuracy , by Socrates , Sozomen , Theodoret , Euagrius and Cassiodore , in whom we find the six first Saecula of Christianity well delineated ; but when afterward the Imployment devolv'd on Nicephorus , and others among the Greeks ; on Vincentius , Antoninus , Jacobus de Voragine , &c. among the Latines , what a Deluge of Fopperies , Legends , Miracles and Visions broke in , and overwhelm'd the Church ? The whole aim of those Biographers and Chroniclers being to experiment , not how truly , but how honourably they could write of the persons whom they mentioned ; being ignorant , how different an Encomium is from a History ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. Lucian ubi supr. p. 350. of whose Books we may affirm what Lucian does of some of the Historians of his Age , that they deserve rather to be call'd an Ecclesiastical Poem or Romance , than a History , the enterprise being as suitable , as the introducing a Wrestler in the habit of an Eunuch , or a General of an Army with his Face bedawb'd with Paint and Ceruse , and adorn'd with the little arts of Effiminacy ; under which Spiritual Scorbute , which had emasculated all that was generous among Christians , the Church for a long time insensibly languish'd ( the whole Common-wealth of Learning being disfranchiz'd , and its last breath expiring among the Monks , who , by reason of their confinement to the Melancholy loneliness of a Cell , were the unfittest men in nature to be Historians ) till Religion and the Muses had their restoration together , and the Sacred and Secular Sciences were introduc'd from behind the Skreen , and shewn to mankind cloath'd in their native Dress , and Beauties ; among which productions of that benign providence , the holy History began to look like it self , the Winter Tales of the Fryars were hist off the Stage , De Magdeburgens . videsis , Casaub . Ep. Dedic . ante exercit . in Baron . Montacut . apparat . Sect. 52 , 54. Cave 's Lives of the Apostolici● ad Lector . and men grew inquisitive after what really had been done in the days of their Fathers ; and after a few previous attempts of Melancthon , and others , to rectify the dis-joynted Series of Times , the Divines of Magdeburg , or rather Flacius Illyricus in the name of the rest adventured on the writing of the Church History , whose Centuries , when first they came forth , alarm'd the whole Romish Faction , and employed them in the moving every Stone to secure their Proselytes from believing , that the Reformed was the most antient Religion , and that the greatest pretenders to Antiquity were the veriest Novellists : to this end a Countryman of theirs first takes up the Cudgels against them , William Eysengreen , in his Centenarius primus adversus Magdeburgenses , but I never found that he went farther than that one Book , being conscious to himself of his own impotence , and contented to have given his Holiness such a specimen of his Obedience and good will to the Cause . Nibbled at the Centuries were by Harpsfield , Turrianus , Canisius , and others , but never seriously and in good earnest undertook , till Baronius set himself to the writing of his Annals ; ( a design , which Onuphrius Panvinius had some thoughts of , Hieron . Barnab . vit. Baron . l. 1 c. 18. but was by Death prevented ) in which by digesting his Memoires into a better order , not of Centuries , but of Years , by reading through the Body of Ecclesiastick History seven times in his own private Oratory before he publish'd any thing ( the Centurists never reviewing their Labours , nor bringing them to a more accurate Edition , ) by the extraordinary advantage of the Vatican , and access to all the learned Libraries , and Men at Rome , together with a stup●●dous wit , and industry , he became the great Patron of the decayed Papal Interest , and shoar'd up that Church , which was just before tottering ; his Tomes were wonderfully cryed up , translated into the German , Polish , and other Langunges , epitomiz'd by Spondanus , and by all men greedily sought after and read ; to the answering of him was the learned Isaac Casaubon design'd by King James , who went through no more than the Apparatus of the Cardinal , and our blest Saviour's Life , and at that period was summon'd to a better Employment in Heaven [ while the abortive attempt mist not its Antagonists in Julius Caesar , Bulingerus , Lanselius , and others , most of whose quarrel● were rather in matter of Philology , than History ] but that wise Patron of learning , King James , was not so content , but devolv'd the Province on the most a cute Critick , Doctor Montague , ( who wa● afterward Bishop of Norwick ) whose design , as himself informs us , was to reform the Magdeburg Divines on on● hand , and the Cardinal on the other and how happily and succesfully 〈◊〉 would have managed it , his Apparatus and the two Tomes of his Origines Ecclesiasticae are a pregnant demonstration to the World ; nor would that learned Prelate have there sat down , had not that most elaborate work been obstructed by a Domestick Faction , when all its foreign enemies could not supersede it ; At first loud out-cryes , and hard words were his portion , and for asserting Orthodoxy , he was nick-nam'd Heretick , till at last the bigger noyse of our unmanly Civil contentions made him earnest to beg his quietus from the Court of Heaven , which heard his Prayers , and rescued him from the evil to come ; and I have been credibly inform'd , that , whereas at his death there was a vast heap of Collections piled up , in his Study , as materials for the continuation of that Work , they were all in the hurry of the Wars ravish'd by one of his Chaplains , who had been perverted to the Roman Belief , and so lost for ever ; an injury to the Church of God , and Common-wealth of Learning , not easily to be repair'd : nor do I know of any person , who hath undertook the same or a like design , since that venerable Prelates decease ; for as to Hottinger's Historia Ecclesiastica , it is too brief to be accounted a just and exact History , the whole story of the sixteen Centuries being couch'd in five small Octavo's , and the affairs of the nine first Saecula of Christian , with the Synchronisms of the Jewish , Gentile , and Mahometan History cramm'd into one of them , viz. the first part , or Eneas .

I have thus ( more largely than perhaps I ought ) deduced this account to the present time , that the World may the better judg of the reasonableness o● my Animadversions , and voluntary engaging my self in this Controversie , a● an Essay , or well-meant endeavour to testifie my zeal for Antiquity , and its reverend usages , and my duty to my holy Mother the Church of England ; nor can Master H. constru● my remarquing what hath not been by him so carefully , or faithfully exprest , as Defamation , and casting Dir● but rather as a serving the Interests 〈◊〉 Truth and doing homage to its Majesty , Si taceamus , cedere videbimur , si contendamus , verendum est , nè & nos carnales esse judicemur . Ambr. lib. 5. de fide ad Gratian. cap. 1. p. 113. ed. Erasm , and I had rather be thought contentious by such a Vindication , than ly● under the misapprehension of assenting to his unsoun● Assertions by my silence .

The View of Antiquity was a long time ready before it came to the Press , and perhaps lay dormant so many years , to wait a more favourable Crisis in the times for its publication , ( and , methinks , should in that space have been accurately examin'd ) and peradventure had never been printed in the life time of the Author , if the learned Doctor Cave's Apostolici had not appeared , in which the whole design of Mr. H's book is , except a few Pages eternally superseded ; this I conjecture hastened the impression , and introduc'd it into the Light , the Doctors Book having its Imprimatur May 10th . the other December 9th . of the same year . And as it was a long time before Mr. H. would suffer his Tractate to appear in publick , so was it no little space after my first reading of it , e're I could perswade my self to animadvert it , being never yet tickled with an itch of being in Print , and not unacquainted with the shallowness of my own abilities , and the meanness of my little study , and expecting some better furnish'd person to vindicate the Church ; but when I saw no man appear , and found that I had a few Books of my own , that could assist me in such a disquisition , I seriously applyed my self to the business , not tying my self wholly to Mr. H. but occasionally making some digressions to discover the primitive Opinions , or Customs , in some of which I have been very large out of a perswasion , that that might comport with the Genius of others , which pleased mine , who am not apt to be satisfied with Scraps , but have ever loved an historical deduction of Opinions and Practices through all the Records of Antiquity , that I could meet with , and such a Sally now and then is not , I presume , unpardonable to one of my youth and humour ; but in some places I have been compell'd to amass Quotations , that whereas my Author , whom I undertake to correct , does very magisterially in a few words condemn the use of the Cross , the necessity of Baptism , and many other such Catholick Dogmata , I might on the contrary appear to their vindication and make it good , that they are not Romish innovations , but Ancient , Primitive , and Orthodox Doctrines and Practices . I have voluntarily subjoyn'd all the Panegyricks , that in my small reading I found on the Fathers , whose Lives Mr. H. treats of , but must forewarn my Reader , that he expect not an exact confinement to the words of my Author in every place , ( though I am not conscious to my self , that I any where wilfully falsifie his meaning ) I having allowed my self a large liberty in expressing the Fathers , as I understood them ; and I could wish , that all that can , would save themselves the trouble of reading such a bald and jejune Translation , and converse with the writings of the Encomiasts in their native and ravishing Greek . I have also taken upon me in some places , to vary from some very Venerable men , whose persons I reverence , and Writings I admire , but I hope it hath been no where without a becoming Modesty , and some shew ( at least ) of reason for my dissent .

Nor am I ignorant , that I have imbitter'd a Cla●●●s of men , that are keen in their Aspersions , and not wanting to the Arts of reflection , and virulency , by so magnifying the Authority of the Fathers , whereas I have done no more than the Church of England enjoyns every good Member of her Communion to do , Can. Eccl. Angl. 1●71 when it requires them to interpret the holy Scriptures according to the Exposition of the Catholick Fathers , and ancient Bishops . It is true , the judgment of those admirable men hath been declined by all * * Exoriri videas passim tenebriones quosdam , qui simul atque didicerunt decem verba Latina , Graeca duo , paradoxa sex , scribunt procaces libellos , miroque supercilio fastidiunt tot saeculo●um unanimi sententia consecratos authores , haud dum scio majorene ingratitudine , an impietate . Erasm . Epist. dedic . ante tom . 4. oper. Hieron . Modern Hereticks ; by the Socinians , and Anabaptists especially , who herein tread in the Steps of their Progenitors , the Arians , and others ; for the a a Socrat. lib. 5. cap. 10. & Sozom. lib. 7. cap. 12. Historians tell us , that until the time of Theodosius the Great , the Hereticks of whatsoever denomination , refused to be tryed for their Orthodoxy by the Fathers : but when that famous Prince had conven'd the Catholicks and Novatians , the Arians , Eunomians , and Macedonians to give him an account of their Faith , Nectarius the Patriarch of Constantinople , by the advice of Sisinnius , perswaded the Emperour to engage them to stand to the decision of the Ancients , in the Controversies of Faith , which after a strict Law made to that purpose , they were content to do ; hence it is that the Fathers of the four first Centuries do but sparingly defend the Catholick Faith by the Testimonies of the Ancients , Pearson vindic . Epist . Ignat. part. 1. cap. 2. p. 13. & cap. 6. p. 95 , 96. but after this time , Theodoret and Gelasius begun the custom of doing it ex professo , and made it usual . Nor have the greatest pretenders to respect for those Sages , always been constant to their duty either in the Church of Rome , or the Congregation of the Discipline , for when Salmeron says , Disputat . 51 ●n Rom. pag. 468. that at least three hundred Fathers may be muster'd against the immaculate conception , he shakes them all off with , Pauperis est numerare pecus ; That Saint Bernard , and the rest of the Fathers must not be credited in such a Case ; Apud Dr. Hammond . animadv . on Dr. Owen p. 21. And when Blondel confesses , that the Ancients did believe Ignatius his Epistles to be genuine , yet he slights them all with , Quid tum ? quam multa minime suspicaces , ac impara tos , & fefellerunt semper , & quotidie fallunt ? What then ? how many times are men deceived , that are not wary and cautious ? And with this sort of Men , I fear me , we must rank Master H. notwithstanding his usurp'd Title of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or Lover of Antiquity . But it hath been the peculiar glory of our holy Mother to confront the Romanists with their own Fathers in Matters of Doctrine , by standing to the Challenge of the famous Jewel : and the Men of the New Discipline , with the same Authority in point of Government and Polity ; and under her protection will I shelter my self , Rectè & verè haec in tumulo viri summi Adami à Bodenstein , Basileae , in coemeterio D. Pauli leguntur . being satisfied , that I can say , that although I have disserv'd some particular Interests , Nec omnia , nec omnes mihi Placuere ; quinam ego omnibus ? Non omnibus Cous senex , Non Eremita Spagirus . Num tu , Viator , omnibus ? Deo placere cura , abi .

Reusner . Ep. ded. ●nte lib. de probation . urinar .

yet I am not conscious to my self of having baffled my own conscience , dishonour'd the Truth , or offended my Saviour , and if I can please him , other Frowns are contemptible .

THE CONTENTS .

The Life of Saint Ignatius .

THe deplorable loss of the antient Histories , Apologies , and the Acts of the Martyrs . Whether Ignatius saw Christ in the Flesh , and was that little Child , that he took in his Arms and blest . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , what . He was ordain'd Patriarch of Antioch by Saint Peter . Two distinct Coetus of Jews and Gentiles under their distinct Bishops at Antioch , Rome , Corinth , and elsewhere . Their coalition at Antioch under Ignatius . How long he sate in that See . Ignatius not the most antient of Ecclesiastical Writers . The genuineness of his Epistles evinc'd . The Apostolicalness of Episcopal Government , and novelty of any other Church-Polity . The Excellent and Primitive Government of the Church of England . Four different Copies of Ignatius's Epistles , which of them are dubious , which spurious , and which genuine . That to Polycarp was one of the seven genuine . The Stages of his Journey to Rome ; the reason of his being carried so far out of his way . What the Heresie of Apollinaris was . An account of the first finding a genuine Copy of these Epistles first in England , then at Florence . Mistakes in Quotations , not unusual in the antient Writings . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , what , and who usually carried the Bishops Letters to foreign Churches . The three Latine Epistles . His Style and Actons very conformable to Saint Pauls . Ignatius first instituted the Antiphonal Hymns at Antioch . Liturgies in his time , and of Apostolical Institution . An account of the most remarkable Passages in his Epistles ; his Zeal for Martyrdome , severity against Schism and Heresie , and importunate pressing submission to Bishops . His leisure of writing purchast from his Guards . The reasons why he was Martyred not at Antioch , but Rome . The time of his Journey , his Preparative Torments and Death , Gods Vengeance on the City of Antioch . His greater Bones collected and buried . The Church instituted Festivals to their Martyrs Memories , honoured their Reliques , and God wrought Miracles by them ; but their adoration was still disallowed . Other famous Men of the Name . Saint Chrysostom's Panegyrick .

The Life of Saint Justin .

His Original . He was a Samaritan by Birth , not by Religion . An Apostolical Person . The manner of his conversion His Apology writ to Antoninus Pius . An account of his Writings . The Age of the Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite . The Quaestiones ad Orthodoxos are Saint Justin's , but interpolated . The Doctrine of the immaculate conception , of Reliques and Vows . That Baptism is necessary to Salvation . The ancient use of Chrism . A dissertation concerning the use of the Cross in all holy and secular Offices . Where , by whom , and how the Sermons of the An●●ents were managed . The Chiliast-Opinion , the salvability of the Heathens , and the Doctrine of Free-Will considered . Saint Justin's Errors in Chronology . His Martyrdom .

The Life of Saint Irenaeus .

His Mission by the Churches of Lyon , and Vien to Pope Eleutherius and the Asian Churches . Marcus the Disciple of Valentinus a notorious Heretick . Most of the antient Hereticks , and persecuting . Emperors accused of too much familiarity with the Prince of Darkness . The Female Sex most easily imposed on by those Impostures . The Devils Policy in assaulting the Church . Irenaeus his adjuration of the Transcriber of his works . The Greek Copy of his works not to be found . The Villany of Fathering Books on a wrong Author . Heresies have appeared in the World , according to the methods of the Creed . The necessity of Episcopal Succession . Irenaeus held not two natures in Christ . His other Errors apologiz'd for , and vindicated . That the departed Saints are not in the most perfect bliss , till the day of Judgment . His Character and Martyrdom .

Life of Saint Clemens of Alexandria .

The Antiquity of the Catechetick School at Alexandria . Clemens his several Tutors , his last , Pantaenus , whom he succeeded in that School . The time of his being made a Presbyter of that Church . A large Discourse of the extraordinary care and respects of the Ancients toward their Martyrs , in visiting them in Prison , in Embalming , and paying other funeral Honours to their dead Bodies , in honouring their Relicks , holding their Religious meetings at their Caemeteria , and there performing all their Sacred Offices , in Celebrating their Birth-dayes , and recording their last Actions , in building Churches to their memories , allowing them an honourable commemoration at the Altar , and calling their Children by their Names . What Books of his are lost , and what others misfather'd on him . The Excellent method of his Writings , that remain . His Apocryphal citations . Chemnitius his severe censure of some passages in his Paedagogus . The disingenuous dealing of Blondel , and others , with the Ancients on the account of Episcopacy . The agreement of the Jesuites , and Presbyterians in that case . A description of S. Clemens his Gnostick in his Stromata . The Judgment of Pope Gelasius invalidated in condemning the Writings of Clemens with Hermas's Pastor , and S. Barnabas his Catholick Epistle . His errors considered . His worth , and Death .

The life of Tertullian .

Tertullian's birth , and Education . The time of writing his Book De pallio . That he turn'd Montanist sooner than is asserted ; after which the Books de Corona &c. were writ . That the Rites mentioned in that Book , were Catholick usages , not observances , of the Montanists . That Ambition sowered most of the Antient Hereticks , but Tertullian's ungovern'd zeal sway'd him . The Apostolical Church did not admit gross offenders to penance . The necessity of single Marriage was the opinion of the Antients , their reasons for it . The continuance of the Spiri● of Prophecy in his time , this inclin'd him t● believe the Visions of Montanus , and let him into many odd Opinions . The difference between the Spirit of true Prophecy , and pseudo-afflatus of Maximilla &c. Hi● justly lamented fall . His Writings , and Style . He did not believe Montanus t● be the Holy Ghost . That Martyrdom expiates Transgression , Tertullian no Ma●tyr .

The Life of Origen .

Origens Name , and Excellencies . H●● Castration . The occasion of his remove 〈◊〉 Caesarea . The Emperour Caracalla's sple●●● against the Alexandrians , and the ca●●● of it . Origen took not two journeys 〈◊〉 Rome , nor was ever a Scholar to Plo●●nus . He is too often n●gligently confoun●ed with a junior Origen a Heathen . His Allegorical way of interpreting Scripture whence , and a Vindication of it . His works . What extant , and what lost . His Octapla , his Style , and the causes of his condemnation . The quarrel between S. Chrysostom , and Epiphanius thereupon . The Church was accustomed to Excommunicate Hereticks after their death . Origen's Errors , and whence imbibed . An Apology for him . The Platonick Opinion concerning the Resurrection . His character , and Encomia from all sorts of Writers , Christian , Jewish , and Heathen . Some peculiar remarks in his Life . The Title of Martyr was usually given to the confessors of Old , but themselves modestly resus'd it . The time of his death .

Life of Saint Cyprian .

He is inconsiderately confounded with Cyprian the Magician , the Servant of Justina . The junior Cyprian was never Arch-Bishop of Antioch . The Carthaginian Primate was made a Convert by his Country-man Caecilius , who was the same person that bears a part in the Dialogue of Minutius Foelix . Donatus was Cyprian's immediate Predecessor in that See . Who the Libellatici properly were ; the different customs of the Churches of that Age , in allowing or condemning the purchase of such Libels of security from the Heathen Magistrate . Saint Cyprian's exemplary humility and charity . The Adulteration of his works by the Romanists . The Primacy of Saint Peter , what . His genuine Writings and style . The power of the people in electing their Prelates , discust . They had a priviledge conceded them to except against the manners of the Candidate for holy Orders , and in some places to nominate ; but that power on their tumultuous and disorderly proceedings soon taken from them . A Vindication of his reputed erroneous Opinions . That Charity purges away Sins . That a man may tender satisfaction to God as well as to the Church . To communicate Infants , a Catholick custom , Authority and Reason for it . Mixing Water with Wine in the Eucharist . A Discourse of the duration of Miracles in the Christian Church , especially of Prophecy , the cure of Daemoniacs , and raising the Dead . Miracles no mark of a true Church . The vain and empty boastings of the Romanists in this case . The time of Cyprian's Martyrdom . Two Temples erected to his memory , and a Festival . His honourable character . Saint Austin's Homily in his commendation .

Life of Lactantius .

His Country , Italy . The design of his Institutions , to stifle the Objections of two virulent Adversaries of Christian Religion . Of whom Hierocles was one , but Porphyry not the other . Lactantius his Errors . The Fathers were not very wary in asserting the Divinity of the Son , and Holy Ghost , till the appearance of Arius , and Macedonius . The praeexistence of the soul . Merit . The excellency of Charity . That sins of ignorance damn not . Whether the wicked shall arise at the day of Judgment , and how . His great learning and extream poverty .

Life of Saint Athanasius .

His Baptizing his play-fellows vindicated . Baptism by Laicks in case of instant necessity connived at in the Primitive Church . The Schismatical Ordinations of Coluthus condemn'd , and Ischyras degraded , who after was made a Bishop by the Arian faction . Arsenius his appearing at Tyre to the vindication of Athanasius An account of the death of Arius . Gregory , and George the Cappadocian usurp the See of Alexandria . The last of them cruelly slain . What books of this Father are genuine . The Saturday was observ'd as a Fast at Rome , and Alexandria , and the reasons of it ; but as a Festival in the rest of the Christian world , and the reasons of that custome ; it is yet so retained in all the Churches of the East , and South . Nine Orders of Angels anciently asserted agreeable to Scripture . That the glorified Saints pray for some persons in particular . The retention of Images . The distinction of sins into venial , and mortal . Divers Orders of Monks . Penance : Prayers for the dead . Anti-Christ who , the holy Table frequently called Altar . The Eucharist a sacrifice , how an unbloody sacrifice . The Doctrine of the Procession of the Father by the Son was the ancient belief . An Historical account of the addition [ filioque ] and of the just grounds of the Greek Church to keep to the ancient Creeds . The life of S. Antony writ by Athanasius . The genuineness of the Epistles between Pope Marc and Athanasius controverted . That Christ descended locally into Hell . The Fathers not in complete bliss till his Resurrection . Circumcision , was a sign of Baptism . Athanasius's Death and character . The famous men of his name . S. Greg. Nazianzen's Panegyrick on him .

The Life of Saint Hilary of Poictiers .

The legend of his Condemnation at Rome under Pope Leo. The ancient division of France rectyfied by Augustus . What Countryman Saint Hilary was , the great confusion in Historians , when men of the same name are cotemporaries . When Saint Hilary was banish'd , and by whom . His honourable mention in the Writings of the Ancients . The Tractate de numero septenario is not his . Venantius Fortunatus who , and how he came to be Bishop of Poictiers . Saint Hilary's Poems . His Books de Trinitate are his master-piece . The Epistle to his Daughter Abra. His Fragment of the Council at Ariminum . His Style . The Interpolation of his works . That he did believe the Divinity of the holy Ghost . His Errors candidly considered and apologiz'd . His Opinion of the holy Spirit . Of our Saviours being without passions . Of our being the Sons of God by Nature . How all things were created at once . His Opinion of Free-will , his Death , and Character .

ERRATA .

Besides mis-pointings and Words printed in an improper Ch●racter , the Reader is desired to Correct as follows .

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Addenda & Mutanda .

P. 51. l. 28. for there , r. in that Metropolis of the Empire . p. 125. l. 33. r. could not . and then add , so Gennadius de scriptor . Eccles. c. 57. says , that S. Cyril penn'd many Homilies for the Grecian Bishops , which they recited in their several Churches . And c. 67. he says , the like was done by S. Salvian , Bishop of Marseilles , to gratifie his Neighbour Prelates of the French Church . P. 131. l. 13. adde , The Auditory also customarily clapping their hands at the end of the Sermon , and making loud Acclamations , till such Actions savouring more of the Theatre , than the Church , were forbidden , [ Vid. Chrys. Tom. 1. p 17. and Tom. 4. p. 784. & passim ] and Paulus Samosatenus for affecting such praises , is censured by his Brethren as guilty of unbecoming Vanity . [ Apud Euseb. l. 7. c. 24. ] but in other Churches this was superseded by a much better employment , that of praying for their Priest , that God would enable him rightly to divide the word of Truth , and to shew himself a workman that needed not be ashamed , and that God would open his Mouth , that he might shew forth his Law . [ Vid. Orig. Hom. 3. in Genes. & alibi pass . ] p. 218. l. 32. for and r. which custom . p. 477. l. 32. for Sulpitius Severus r. Gregory Turonensis . & l 33. r. as say Sulpitius Severus . p. 476. l. 1. instead of , himself in his Answer to Auxentius , tells us , &c. r. For Auxentius himself in his Libel tells us , That when S. Hilary opposed him at Millain , it was ten years , &c.

THE LIFE OF S. Ignatius .

I. GREAT and Eminent were the Virtues of the Primitive Worthies , and it were to be wish'd that their Fame in this Life were as diffusive as their Glories in the other World , and Mankind made acquainted with the remarkable Transactions of their most obliging Benefactors . But what a barren Account have we of those Sacred Assertors of the Rites of Christianity ? Of some only their Names , of others not so much as that , Heaven having thought fit to inhance their Crown of Glory , to make amends for the obscurity of their secular Reputation , that though here they are buryed with their Faces down-ward , and thrown into the house of forgetfulness , they might be recompenc'd in the Resurrection of the Just , when they shall shine like the Stars in the Firmament : And I wish I could as easily remedy , as I am inclinable to bemoan the Fate of the Church ; that is , so to seek for the Catalogues of its ancient Bishops ; the Series of succession , with respect to the names of the Prelates , being in most Sees wholly lost , in the rest very confused and uncertain . Of some Fathers , their Writings are preserved , but the account of their Actions lost ; of others , both Parent and Off-spring are involved in the same common Calamity . How do I long for the Histories of Hegesippus , and Julius Africanus ; for the Apologies of Aristides , Apollonius , Quadratus and Melito , and the Excellent Writings of Apollinaris , B. of Hierapolis ? What satisfaction would it be to my Soul , to understand where Athenagoras , Minutius Foelix , and the other brave Defenders of Religion were born ? What Testimonies of their Courage and Learning , their Virtue and Piety , they gave the World ; and when and by what means they went into the Grave , that I might contemplate the Beauty of their Atchievments , and celebrate their Worth ? I am eager to be acquainted with the Education and Life , the Speeches and Demeanour of Gordius and S. Laurence , of Pionius and Germanicus , and the numerous Army of Martyrs ; of Spiridion and Paphnutius , and the rest of the Holy College of Confessors ; and would willingly read the rational and solid Confutations of the ancient Heretiques , writ by Agrippa Castor , and Musanus , by Rhodon and Modestus , Apollonius and Bardesanes , by Eusebius Emesenus , and Dionysius of Alexandria , and his Name-sake of Corinth , by Titus Bostrensis , and Diodorus of Tarsus , and those other admirable Conquerours of Heresie , and Defenders of Catholick Orthodoxy ; but these are Happinesses only to be enjoy'd in wish , and we , that cannot be so fortunate , must be content with our present Portion , and the knowledge , which is yet by a benign Providence left us , of that small Company of the wise and good Men , that adorned the Church ; among which famous and venerable Persons sew have so highly deserved of the Christian Church as S. Ignatius , who is therefore justly reckon'd among the chiefest of those Sages .

II. In order to the account of whose life Mr. H. §. 1. p. 1. takes occasion to speak of that story in a a Hist. Eccl. lib. 2. cap. 35. Nicephorus , That Ignatius was that little Child , b b Mat. 18.1 , 2. whom our Saviour held in his Arms and blest ; and this he calls , A Fabulous Narration , and makes Nicephorus the Author of it , and adds , That there is somewhat found in the Epistles of Ignatius that contradicts the Opinion , since he there says , That he never saw Christ Corporally , or in the Flesh . What there may be supposed to be in those Epistles I cannot tell , for certainly there is no such positive Assertion ; but on the contrary c c Des●ript. Dionys. Areopag . & Ignat. c. 21. Monsieur Dailleé quotes a Passage out of the Epistle to the Smyrneans , That he did see Christ corporally , and uses it as a wonderful and invincible Argument to prove the spuriousness of these excellent Writings ; and so indeed does the Old d d P. 219. Ego enim & post resurrectionem eum in carne vidi . Latine Translation , set out by the most Learned Primate of Armagh , read it ; as does also e e In Catal. v. Ignat. St. Hierom , and his Translator e e In Catal. v. Ignat. Sophronius ; of which Writers the first being so justly admired by the Latine Church , and the latter so well known by the Greeks , it gave occasion to the Errour , that Ignatius lived in our Saviour's time . Whereas the whole Story arises from a mistake of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in Eusebius , whom S. Hierom in that Book Translates , but not so happily as it were to be wish'd , as he that consults Scaliger's Eusebius may find enough to surfeit him . For a a Hist. Eccl. li. 3. c 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Lat ●o . Eusebius , b b 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Theodoret , and all the Greek Copies of these Epistles , both the Medicean and interpolated read the passage otherwise , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and so Ruffinus after S. Hierom Translates it , ( the Passage containing a Vindication of the Catholick Doctrine against the Docetae , the Followers of Simon Magus , who held , That our Saviour took only a fantastick body , ) which reading the judicious c c Exercit. adv. Bar. 16. n. 126. Isaac Casaubon , and the immortal d d Comment. in Mat. 18. Grotius follow .

III. And yet there is no impossibility in the Assertion , nor is it in it self altogether improbable , ( though e e Ubi supr. Casaubon doubts of it , whose Dissertation on the Subject I wish that Learned Man had lived to finish ) were there any thing of greater Antiquity to countenance the Tradition , than Anastasius Bibliothecarius . For Ignatius was martyred but eight years after S. John's Death , ( when he had sate Patriarch of Antioch thirty years , says f f Chronic. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . ● . p. 66. Eusebius , thirty nine as S. Hierom reckons it ; forty says g g P. 21. Mr. H. out of Baronius ; at least thirty years says our most Learned h h Vindic. Epist. Ignat . part . 2. cap. 1. p. 2. Pearson . ) Now S. John was a Man , and a Disciple , when this Child was taken up into the Holy Arms of Jesus ; and Simeon Cleophae , our Saviour's Kinsman , mentioned also in the Gospel , who was the Second Bishop of Jerusalem , was Martyred but the year before Ignatius : So that nothing could hinder , but that this excellent man might have been blest with the sight of Jesus , as i i Of Episcopacy , Sect. 34. Bishop Taylor affirms , did not k k T. 5. Hom. in S. Ignat. p. 503. edit. Savil. S. Chrysostom contradict the Opinion , expresly asserting , that Ignatius never saw , nor converst with Christ . Of which Passage the most acute l l Ubi supr. c. 10. p. 120. Bishop of Chester gives his Judgment , that he was ignorant on what grounds that Eloquent Father built his Assertion .

IV. But grant we the certainty of this Position , that S. Ignatius lived in our Saviour's time , and might see him , yet to argue from thence , that he must have been that Child that Christ set in the midst of his Disciples , is a wild way of arguing , there being no congruity between the passages ; m m Id. ubi supr. c. 12. p. 148. &c. this latter story therefore rose from another original , from a mistake of that name , which was always used by Ignatius , as an addition to his own , viz. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which was changed into 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and so the birth of this story must be placed higher than Nicephorus , who lived but a few Centuries since , circ. an. 1300. for we find it in Simeon Metaphrastes , who lived circ. an. 1000. and before him in Anastasius Bibliothecarius , who , I suppose , first learnt it from the Greeks , when he was a member of the eighth General Council , where the great Quarrel was decided between the most accurate Critick Photius , and another Ignatius , ( whom they stiled the junior Theophorus , and the Church of Rome Canoniz'd ) about the Patriarchate of Constantinople ; in which Council Photius was depos'd , and this story , I believe , coyned to gain some greater honour to his Opponent , and the accent translated from the second to the third syllable , thereby quite altering the signification of the word , the one signifying actively , the other passively : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Deum portans , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 à Deo portatus , sic 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 matricida , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , à matre occisus , &c. And this I the rather mention , because Mr. H. though he calls the story a Fable , yet always terms Ignatius 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , against the use of the ancient Greeks , and all Latine Translators , who render it by Deifer , or Deum , vel crucifixum circumferens , or , qui Christum habet in pectore . In which story what makes it most of all suspitious , is , that for this reason , say they , the Apostles made him a Bishop without laying on of hands , because Christ had already laid his on him , against the express testimony of S. Chrysostom , Theodoret , P. Foelix , and other Fathers ; and against Reason too ; for had our Saviour laid his hands on him in the Rite of Confirmation , as we might suppose was done , Matth. 18. yet this hinders not the reiteration of the same Rite to another end and purpose in Ordination .

V. We are told , p. 2. that Theodoret ( and to him might have been joined S. Chrysostom , and others ) records , that S. Peter ordained Ignatius his Successor , whereas Eusebius and Dorotheus affirm , that Euodius preceded him in that Chair ; and that it is true , Ignatius was the third Bishop there , if we reckon S. Peter for one , but because he made a small stay there the Catalogue begins in Euodius , and so ignatius is justly reckoned the second Bishop . But this doth not salve the Objection , how he could be ordain'd by S. Peter , as his Successor , and yet Euodius come between them , who on all hands is acknowledged to have been Bishop of Antioch , and to have dyed long before Ignatius ( his Name being inserted in that large interpolation of the a a p. 97. ed. U●●er . Epistle to the Philadelphians , as also in the sp●rious b b p. 157. Epistle to the Church of Antioch , which tells us of his Ordination to the Government of that See by the Apostles . ) The first that I find bidding any thing toward a solution of this Question is c c ●●●●ent . 〈…〉 . lib. 7. c. ●6 . Turrianus , and out of him d d Not. in M●r●yrel . Feb. 1. p. 9● , 100. Baronius , who inform us , that on the dissention that happened at Antioch , between the Jews and Gentiles , hinted Galat. 2. each party had their own Bishop allotted them , but on the re-union-of the Churches , they were again setled under one Prelate ; and that during this breach , Ignatius having been ordained by S. Peter , and Euodius by S. Paul ( contrary to the e e Lib. 7. c. 46. Apostolical Constitutions , which say , that Ignatius was S. Paul's Successor , and Euodius S. Peter's ) on the re-union Ignatius modestly gave place to Euodius till his death , and then succeeded him ( as Clemens being ordain'd at Rome by S. Peter did to Linus and Cletus ) and so was both the Second and Third Bishop of that See . On this ground , as I suppose , the Learned f f Dissert. de Episcopat. 4. c. 10. Dr. Hammond hath built the Opinion , which I profess to embrace , and which excellently solves the Question .

VI. Whereas in the dispersion of the Apostles , the g g Gal. 2.7 . Gospel of the Circumcision , i. the Conversion of the Jews , was S. Peter's Province , and that of the Uncircumcision , or the Gentiles , was S. Paul's ; accordingly they applyed themselves to the persons design'd for their peculiar Flock ( on which account S. Peter writes his first Catholick Epistle to the Jews disperst in the several parts of Asia , whose Diocesan he properly was , and not to the Gentiles ; and S. Paul writing to the Hebrews conceals his name , lest he might be censur'd as a busie man in anothers Province ) but where both of them preacht the Gospel in the same City , and founded a Church , it was divided into two Coetus , or Assemblies , under their respective Bishops , as h h In Gal. 1. 22. to 9. p. 214. Ed. Eras . Seorsim , qui ex Judaeis erant , Ecclesiae habebantur , nec his , qui erant è Gentibus , miscebantur . S. Hierom , or who-ever put out those Comments in his name . So * * Apud Euseb. Hist. lib. 2. cap. 24. Dionysius of Corinth seems to imply , was his Church founded , and so without doubt was the Church of Rome , where Linus succeeded S. Paul , and Cletus S. Peter , till both the Coetus had their coalition under Clemens ; and that there were two such distinct parts of their first Plantation , seems plain to me from Rom. 14. where the Gentile Church is advised not to censure the Jewish , who observed days , and abstained from meats . And after this manner had the Church of Antioch its Original ; for it appears by Act. 15.23 . that the Synodical Epistle of the Apostles was directed to the Brethren which were of the Gentiles in Antioch , Syria , and Cilicia , who were distinct from the Jewish Converts , as appears from v. 28. And this I am apt to think was the Model of Government in all Churches , where those two Chiefs of the Apostles came ; whereas at Alexandria , where they had only S. Mark for their Apostle and Instructer , Epiphan. Haeres . 68. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . they had but a single Bishop : So that in this City both the Apostles laying the foundation , committed the raising of the Superstructure each to a distinct Successor , Ignatius succeeding S. Peter , Euodius S. Paul , till on the death of Euodius , there was a coalition of both the Coetus under the surviving Bishop . And I suppose this happened providentially in all places just upon the ruine of Jerusalem under Titus , that the Apostles having buried the Synagogne with honour , there might no longer be the distinction of Jew or Gentile in the Lord Jesus ; and this may help to strengthen the Conjecture of the most learned a a Ubi supr. Pearson ( and to reconcile Eusebius , and his Translator S. Hierom ) that Ignatius was Bishop of Antioch more than 30 years , for so long he exercised the Jurisdiction after Euodius his decease , as appears by Eusebius , and how long before as the Bishop of the Jewish Christians , is uncertain .

VII . Sect. 2. p. 3. Mr. H. says , that Ignatius is altogether the most ancient of all now extant , first of Writers , as I understand him , in the Christian Church : Where certainly he must allow us to except S. Barnabas , who writ his Catholick Epistles ; or if that be controverted , S. Clemens his Golden Remains to the Corinthians , the Author whereof was martyred the third year of Trajan , whereas the first of Ignatius's Epistles was not writ till an. 10. of that Emperour ; and from this consideration we are naturally led to Sect. 3. p. 4 , 5 , &c.

VIII . In the Discourse of the Writings of this Martyr , he at first gives them their due Eulogy , Vide Baron . T. 2. an. 109. p. 31. and Not. ad Martyrol . Feb. 1. that as a certain well-drawn Picture they do excellently represent , and give us a lively Image of him ; and so they are in the Opinion of all Learned and Unprejudiced Persons , having had the Approbation of the Holy Fathers , and Ancient Councils ; and had our Author stopt here , in a just Admiration of this holy Man and his Writings , I should have been content to have seconded his Design , and offer'd my Veneration and Esteem on the same Altar . But what this one fit of passion gives us , is by another snatch'd from us , and the Epistles so commended , are presently attempted to be debas'd by an heap of Inconcludencies . Nor can I but a little admire , that Mr. H. writing a large Diatribe , à p. 4. ad p. 15. on these Epistles , never remembers any Edition of them , later than that of the most Reverend Vsher , who , by an ingenious and successful sagacity , rescued this great man from the vile Abuses of his Interpolators , who had interwoven their coarse Thread with his Purple ; never taking notice of the Edition of Isaac Vossius , who , out of the Medicean Library at Florence , Ann. 1646. furnisht the World with a genuine Copy of the seven Epistles , ( the same I suppose which a a Pro Epist. Pontif lib. 2. c. 10. & comm. in constit . Apost. l. 9. c. 17. Turrianus saw , and so much and so justly boasts of , terming it a most ancient and emendate Copy , ) the number being the same with the computation of the Ancients , in which also the Passages quoted by them are found , which are wanting in the Vulgar Copies , and which exactly agrees to those two barbarous Latine Translations , which the Reverend Primate met with here in England , the one in the Library of Cains College in Cambridge , the other among the Books of that Prelate of Universal Learning Bishop Montague ; which Transcript of Vossius , when it was first communicated to the World , was acknowledged by b b Apolog. pro sent . Hieron . praefat. p. 40. Blondel , the bitter Adversary of those Epistles , to be the same which for above a thousand three hundred years since Eusebius , and after him the other Fathers used ; and since him by Dailleé , in his set Tract to evince their spuriousness ; of which undertaking of that Learned Frenchman , Mr. H. in his Mantissa takes notice , and could not but see that it had Relation to the Medicean Copy , and the emendate Edition of Vossius , ( a Book that hath been unanswerably silenc'd by the incomparable Bishop Pearson , in his Vindiciae Epistolarum Ignatii , a Tractate that I wonder is never mention'd in a Discourse so suitable ) but this is not the first over-sight Mr. H. hath been guilty of .

IX . And if the Censure be not too severe , there is some reason why this Edition , purg'd of all the foisted Passages , is not mention'd , which is because of the Episcopacy therein asserted , when by sticking to the interpolated Copies ( a Crime I find willingly committed by the Assemblers , and Dr. Owen against Dr. Hammond , by the Accurate Dailleé himself , and I will not say by our Author ) they might decry every Sentence that made gainst their darling Discipline , as foisted in contrary to the mind of the holy Ignatius ; this Mr. H. more than intimates in these Passages . a a Life of Ignat. p. 7. vide p. 14 , 15. They ( i. the genuine Epistles which he before mentions ) have not escaped the hands of those which have offered no small Injury to them , having most unworthily corrupted these ancient Reliques , partly by Addition and Interpolation of what never fell from the Pen of Ignatius , and partly by Diminution and Substraction of what they saw would prove of disadvantage and prejudice to them ; so that even those genuine Epistles , through the foul abuse that hath been offered unto them , have lost much of that Authority which they had of old . And I may safely dare to affirm , that had not the Government of the Church by Bishops , as superiour to Presbyters , been intimated in every Epistle , and a submission to their Authority so instantly prest , these Sacred Remains had never fallen under such rude Attacques , but been reckoned among the most precious Treasures of the most Primitive Antiquity .

X. This set Blondel first on work , says the immortal Grotius in his Epistle to Gerhard , the Father of Isaac Vossius , to decry these admirable Writings , although in the former Edition , which past through the hands of Videlius at Geneva , Blondellus magnae vir diligentiae , sed suae parti super aequum addictus , Ignatii Epistolas , quas filius tuus ex Italia attulit , puras ab omnibus iis , quae eruditi hactenus suspecta habuere , ideo admittere non vult , quia Episcopatuum vetrustati clarum praebent Testimonium . Grot. Ep. Ger. Voss . who could not be suspected to be partial for the Episcopal Cause , there be enough left uncensur'd to shew us the Face of the Church of that Age. This also is Doctor Owen's Charge against them in his Preface to his Book of the Saints Perseverance , that , frequently , causelesly , absurdly , in the midst of Discourses quite of another nature and tendency , the Author of these Epistles , or some Body for him , breakes in on the commendation of Church-Officers , Bishops , and Presbyters . Nor is a a Apparat. ad lib. de Primat . Pap. p. 55. Salmasius backward in the same Impeachment ; and I am apt to imagine , that Mr. H. so thinks , since else he would have mentioned some of those many Passages , that give an account of the Church Government then in use , as he hath done in the lives of some of the other Fathers , where any thing might seem to make for him , and which would have served as an excellent Comment on that rational Paragraph of his Preface . That as to the Face and State of the Church , both as to sound Doctrine and wholesom Discipline , it may be presumed , that they , i. the Fathers , were better acquainted with , than most others , and could give us the fullest and truest Information , it having been their special work to publish and defend the one , and they having had the chiefest hand in the management of the other ; for it was a solemn act of Divine Providence , says the famous b b Annal T. 2. an. 109. p. 36. ex Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. 3. cap. 30. Cardinal , that these Epistles should be written , but a greater , that amidst that Tempest which wrack'd so many of the Writings of the Primitive Fathers these should escape , in which we have such a lively draught of the Beauties of the Oriental Church , for what the Apostles Peter and Paul taught the Church of Antioch , and S. John instituted in the Churches of Asia , that hath Ignatius preserved and transmitted to Posterity . For that in S. John's time , who dyed but eight years before our Martyr writ his Epistles , the Church should be Govern'd by a Common Council of Presbyters , or by every distinct Priest as absolute over his own Flock , and presently on his death all the world of Christians should conspire to betray the Institution of Christ , and c c Chillingw . of Episcopacy . Sect. 11. p. 5. no man wish so well to the Gospel-Discipline as to oppose it , is so wild a sancy , that when I shall see all the Fables in the M●tamorphoses acted and prov'd Stories , when I shall see all the Democracies and Aristocracies in the World lye down and sleep , and awake into Monarchies , then will I begin to believe , That Presbyterial ( or Independent ) Discipline having continued in the Church , during the Apostles time , should presently after ( against the Apostles Doctrine , and will of Christ ) be whirled about , like a Skreen in a Mask , and transform'd into Episcopacy .

XI . And I could wish that our Brethren of the Separation would consider how much they hereby both prejudice their own Cause ( since in no ancient Writer can they find so honourable a mention of the Presbyterate , as in Ignatius ) and administer advantage to the common Enemy , and how they can answer that Objection of a a Ubi supr. p. 39. Baronius , " who challenges all the Protestants to be tryed , in point of Ecclesiastical Polity , by this Father , as if instead of a beautiful Church , they had groan'd for a most deform'd Monster . But blest be our great High-Priest and Bishop of Souls ( 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Greg. Naz. and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as S. Polycarp , and Clemens Alex. call him ) that the Church of England is able to retort the Calumny , and lay it at the door of the Objectors , being ready to be try'd for its Discipline by the Fathers of the first Ages of the Church , consonant to whom it can show three Orders of the Clergy , in opposition to the defects of the Conventicle , and the superfluity of the Conclave . But this Question hath been so accurately handled by so many learned men of our Church , that it were folly in me to light my Candle where their Sun shines .

XII . But Mr. H. is not without his own Reasons why these Epistles are not pure , though he disallow Dailleés , why they should not be Ignatius's ; of which , before we examine particulars , it will not be amiss to consider how many different Copies of the Greek Epistles have been made use of ( for as to the three Latine ones mentioned , and disallowed per ¾ , b b Apud Usserii prolegomen . de Epist. Ignat . cap. 5. p. XXIX . Baronius and the Roman Index clear the Martyr from being the Author of them ) and this I do to mind Mr. H. of another slip of his , p. 8 , 9. from his haste , or mistake of the Reverend Primate , who , in his c c Cap. 6. p. XXXIII . Dissertation prefixt to his Edition of Ignatius , reckons three several Editions of these Epistles in use among the Ancients ; the first of the seven genuine Epistles only ( or six , as he would have them ) which Eusebius , &c. saw and used ; the second of the same Epistles , but interpolated , and so used by Stephanus Gobarus , Anastasius the Patriarch of Antioch , and the Author of the Chronicon Alexandrinum , for they were not the Authors of the Connection of the five spurious Epistles , as Mr. H. imagines ; the third consisted of the genuine and supposititious Epistles all in one Volume , used by Johannes Damascenus , Antonius in his Melissa , and Anastasius Presbyter , whom I suppose Mr. H. mistook for him of the same name that was Patriarch of Antioch , and so fell into his errours . And I am apt to think with a a Ep. 1. p. 9. ad fin . vindic . Pearson . Isaac Vossius , That the genuine Epistles were adulterated , and the spurious annext under the Emperour Anastasius , circ. an. 510. who also supprest the Gospels , as if writ by Idiots and unlearned men , and commanded others to be writ in their stead . This third Edition b b Proaem . c. 6. p. 28. Bishop Pearson divides into two , one whereof had only four spurious Epistles added to the seven genuine and untainted , as the Medicean Copy of Isaac Vossius , and the Latine Copies of the Primate , and those used by Damascene , and Antonius ; but the other Edition ( which was made use of by Anastasius Presbyter and Ado V●ennensis , and of which sort were the first Greek Copies that ever appeared in Print , set out by Pacaeus and Gesner ) had the seven interpolated Epistles , and five supposititious , that to the Philippians being last added .

XIII . Having thus rectified the mistake of the Editions , we may now follow Mr. H. who still walks after the Primate's light , and therefore reckons the Epistle to Polycarp among the spurious Epistles , expresly against the mind both of c c Apud eund. ibid. p. 21 , 22 , &c. Eusebius and S. Hierom ; ( and he that will believe Honorius Augustodunensis , an Author so many years younger , and so many other ways inferiour to the aforenamed Fathers , hath my consent to love his fancy : ) and to me the reading of the most Learned d d Exercit. 16. n. 126 ; Isaac Casaubon , which the Primate makes an Argument against the Epistle to Polycarp , is an Argument that it is genuine . For if you read the words , as Casaubon would have you ( & propriè ad Polycarpum , &c. ) in a Parenthesis , then the Passage mention'd by S. Hierom must not be look'd for in the Epistle to Polycarp , but in that to the Smyrneans where it is to be found . But besides what the judicious Isaac Vossius , and Bishop Pearson have observed , we need no other Conviction than this , That whereas none of the supposititious Epistles were otherwise in the Medicean Copy than in the Vulgar , this Epistle to Polycarp , in the Florentine M S. is free from the Interpolations of the former Editions ; intimating , That this was a true Birth of the Father , and fell into the same vile hands that abused the rest , and might have escaped that hard Sentence , p. 6. That it ought to be reckon'd among the second sort of Ignatius's Epistles .

XIV . P. 7. He re-enforces the Centurist's Argument against these Epistles , because the Martyr was not carryed the nearest way to Rome ; whereas the Stages mention'd in his Epistles are the same with these mention'd in the ancient piece called , Martyrium Ignatii , set forth by the Lord Primate , and agreeable to S. Paul's Stages , who went from Antioch to Seleucia , Act. 13.4 . from Troas , crossing the Helespont , to Neapolis , Act. 16.11 . and from thence to Philippi , v. 12. When S. Ignatius went on foot through Macedonia to Epidamnum , where he took Ship , and sailed to Rhegium , and from thence to Puteoli , and so to the Roman Port , which were also S. Paul's Stages , Act. 28.13 , 14. And for his being at Smyrna , the Metropolis of the Lydian , or Proconsular Asia , it was the common Road of all the Presidents of Syria , when they went to their Charges , or return'd from them , and the course which Vespasian took with his Army when he went to the Siege of Jerusalem : And to him who shall consider the Reasons which the Ancients give for this designed undertaking , there will be no occasion of doubting . a a To. 5. p. 502. Ed. Savil. S. Chrysostom in his Encomium of this Worthy , ( a Discourse which is never here mention'd , though so pertinent to the purpose , the Author whereof was a great Admirer of Ignatius , and a Presbyter of that Church of Antioch , of which he was Patriarch ) tells us , That it was no contemptible specimen of the Devil's Policy so to deal with the Bishops design'd for Martyrdom , at once to take them unprovided of Necessaries , and to wear them out with the length of the Journey : And b b Act. S. Ignat . apud Sur. Febr. 1. Simeon Metaphrastes assures us , That it was the Advice of Trajan's Council to send him a long way about to Rome , that by the length of the Journey he might be inforc'd to rellish the tediousness of his bitter Sentence ; and this also c c Ubi supr. S. Chrysostom confirmes , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , they set him a Course to run forward and back-ward , seeking only to prostitute his Constancy and subdue his Resolution , ( as in a a Id. To. 7. Epist. 13. ad Olympiad . p. 92. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . another place he says of himself in his Banishment , That God had so order'd it in appointing him such variety of tedious Removes , such long and intricate Wandrings , that his happiness might be the greater ; where he gives a third Reason of this Designation ) That by this means the Martyr might enhance his Crown of Glory . And to answer the Magdeburg Centurist's this is enough , if not too much , if we subjoin the good Remarque of b b Animad. on Dr. Owen . Ch. 2. Sect. 2. N. 24. Dr. Hammond , that in matters of Fact , the Occasion and Motives whereof are not always visible to every man placed at a great distance from them , it is unreasonable to fancy and conjecture what is probable or improbable , and accordingly to reform the Records of Antiquity from our own guesses .

XV. His next proof consists of the Exceptions muster'd from the Epistles against themselves . Of which the first p. 8. is taken out of the Epistle to the Philadelphians , in which there is mention made of the Heresie of Apollinaris , that in Christ there was no Humane Soul . To which I might answer , That c c Haeres. 77. Epiphanius , who may be presumed to know the Heresie of that very learned man , living in the same Age with him , tells us , that Apollinaris granted that Christ had the Soul , but denyed that he had the Mind of a Man , according to the notion of the junior Academy , that put a difference between the Mind and Soul . But there is no need of this solution , while the Edition which d d P. 102. Ed. Usser . Mr. H. makes use of tells him , That those words are interpolated , ( and so he might have found them in red Letters ) and then the bare denying of the Passage to be Ignatius's is a sufficient Vindication ; though if we had granted them to be in the true Copy , yet perchance this would not have made the Copy spurious , since the Heresies concerning our Saviour were so multiplyed in the first saeculum , that there hardly appear'd a new one in the fourth , of which the Seeds were not sown long before : of which Heresies our Martyr takes especial notice of two in these Epistles ; the first of the Docetae , whose Father was Simon Magus , that denyed the reality of Christ's Birth , Death , and Resurrection , affirming that he assumed only a fantastick Body ; the second of the Ebionities , who denyed our Saviour to be God , and urged the observance of the Ceremonial Law . The former Heresie the Disciples of Menander had scattered over all Asia , says e e Haeres. 51. Epiphanius ; and probably Saturnilus , one of his Scholars , had sown the Seeds of this Doctrine at Antioch , ( for that was his Birth-place , says a a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in Menandro , vide & Iren. lib. 1. c. 22. Theodoret ) and among his Errours the same eminent Bishop of Cyrus , reckons one somewhat like that of Apollinaris ; That the Angels were they that said in Scripture , let us make man , and having given him a Soul , that did not enable him to stand upright , but still he crept like a Worm , God took pity on the decrepit Creature , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and sent down a Spark of Life , and made the man perfect , and that this is that Spark that after the dissolution of the Creature goes back again to God that gave it . Which distinction of his seems to me to be the same with that of Apollinaris between the Soul and Mind ; but this I propose only as a Conjecture .

XVI . His second Argument is , That the Passage in Theodoret , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. is left out of our Ignatius : not to answer him , that this Passage being found in b b Usser . prolegom . c. 3. p. XV. XVI . three of our English Writers , Woodford , Tissington , and Bishop Grosthead , ( while it was not in the Vulgar Copies ) set the curious Primate on searching for those Copies which he afterwards found ; this very Passage is still extant in the c c P. 35. edit. Usser . Medicean Copy , only with a small variation , in Theodoret it is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but in Vossius's Edition , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ab eucharistia & oratione recedunt , as the d d P. 220. ancient barbarous Translation .

XVII . His last Argument is from a mistake of e e L. 3. adv. Pelag. to . 2. P. 301. Ed. Eras . S. Hierom , how confidently soever it be said , that the Father had the Passage out of one of the genuine Epistles of Ignatius , that our Saviour chose the greatest of Sinners for his Apostles . For though the Answer of Dr. f f Uhi supr. c. 3. sect. 1. n. 15. Hammond be sufficient that it might be spoken by the Martyr , though not recorded , as our Saviour spake many things not writ in the Gospel , some whereof were recited in the Acts of the Apostles , others by some of the Apostles Followers ; yet we have a better , that this was only a slip of S. Hierom's memory , quoting Ignatius for S. Barnabas , in whose Catholick Epistle the words are now extant ; and as the words of Barnabas did Origen quote taem long before S. Hierom , nor are such mistakes uncommon among the Fathers : so g g Vide Pears vindic . part 1. c. 3. p. 29. Clemens Alexandrinus quotes Barnabas for Clemens Romanus , and Theodoret the Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans instead of that to the Church of Smyrna , and S. h h C. 27.9 . Matthew the Prophet Jeremy instead of Zechary , as i i Act. 7.16 . S. Stephen does Abraham for Jacob.

XVIII . in the next place he proceeds to the consideration of those Epistles , which he calls dubious , but we ( except the Epistle to Polycarp , which even a a Apolog. pro Ignat. cap. 3. Vedelius himself doth confess to be one of the seven genuine ) reject as spurious , being over and above the number of Epistles which Eusebius and S. Hierome attribute to our Martyr . So that notwithstanding what b b To. 2. an. 109. p. 35. Baronius pleads for them , I am of our Country-man Cook's mind , who in his c c Pag. 57 , &c. Censura Patrum gives the same reasons which Mr. H. uses ; only I cannot subscribe to that one , that because in the Epistle to Polycarp he mentions a Letter-Carrier ( 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) therefore he must have been an Ecclesiastical Officer ; the argument being enervated by d d Not. Critic . in Ep. Ignat. p. 139. Vedelius , the word certainly implying no more than a Messenger , in the stile of Ignatius , whom he advises Polycarp to send to Antioch , such as Burrhus was that came to him at Smyrna from Troas ( and such as Phoebe and others were to S. Paul ) for all the e e Cyrys . To. 5. p. 502 , 503. Cities round about sent to the Martyr , and provided him with necessaries , and gave him the assistance of their Prayers and Embassies . Now these Offices were many times undertook by the Clergy ; so Irenaeus being a Presbyter carried the Letters of the Church of Lyons to Pope Eleutherius , though the Office did properly belong to the sub-Deacon , says f f Tom. 2. an. 179 p. 146 Baronius . Nor does 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in that Epistle signifie any imposition of hands , but barely an appointment , or civil designation .

XIX . As to the Apostrophe in the Epistle to Polycarp , from the Bishop to the People , it is not unusual in the Epistles of the Apostles , and may be seen in those to the seven Churches of Asia : and notwithstanding the most reverend g g Not an Epist. ad Polycarp . p. 85 , 86. Vsher ( after what the learned Is . Vossius hath pleaded for this Epistle ) be still of his old Opinion ; yet here S. Chrysostom's Authority prevails more with me , who , in his h h To. 6. p. 645. Oration de Vnico Vet. & N. Test. Legislatore , quotes this Epistle as the genuine Ignatius's ; and that that Oration is S. Chrysostom's , Bishop i i Ubi supr. part. 1. cap. 9. p. 132 , &c. Pearson hath fully vindicated : but this consideration hath been already adjusted .

XX. For the Latine words made Greek , all which will amount to but four in seven Epistles , whereof three are in that one Epistle to Polycarp , it will appear the poorest of Arguments to him that remembers how many more such there be in the New Testament ( which he that will look into the end of Pasor's Lexicon shall find gathered to his hand , though Blondel only takes notice of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) that there is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in the Fragment of Hegesippus , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna concerning Polycarp's Martyrdom ; and that in the most elegant and polite Writer S. Chrysostom , in one a a To. 7. p. 93 , &c. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Epistle , viz. the 13th of those ad Olympiadem , we have eight such words together , and some of them twice and oftner ; and in the Writers of Tacticks , or Law , vaster numbers ; six hundred at least in Vrbicus , an Author of the same Age with Ignatius , who writ the Tacticks of the Emperours Trajan and Adrian . But this is an Exception which Dailleé was asham'd of , who never mentions it ; as our Author is of another which that learned Frenchman uses ; viz. his compound words , b b Vid. D. Ham. & Pears . ubi supr. which also hath been over and above answered .

XXI . P. 13. He avers of the three Latine Epistles ( whereof one to the Virgin Mary , the other to S. John the Apostle ) that they were added by Antiochus the Monk , circ. an. 630. to the other twelve Epistles : But this also is a great mistake , for no man ever yet saw those three Epistles in Greek , nor are they quoted by any Greek Writer ( as Antiochus was ) nor any of the Latines till S. Bernard , as Mr. H. p. 14. out of Baronius confesses ; which how it can be reconciled with his former assertion , I am not Oedipus enough to unriddle . But suppose that this also did arise from his misapprehension of the Primate , who in his c c Pag. CXXIX . 18th Chapter of his Prolegomena tells us of three several Copies of these Epistles in Greek , whereof one was made use of by this Antiochus ; but not a word of the three additional Latine Epistles , till chap. 19. where he briefly mentions them : Nor could any thing but my promise have reconciled me to so barren and unprofitable an Employ , as the rectifying such mistakes as these are amounts to .

XXII . We are next inform'd , that Ignatius's stile was lively and fiery , and such as became a Martyr ; for Martyrs , said d d Life of Iren. p. 62. ex Erasm . Epist. ante Irenaei Opera . he , out of Erasmus , have a certain serious , bold , and Mascusine kind of speech , and very truly . Ignatius his way of Writing is very like S. Paul's , and I may say of that Apostle , and our Martyr , ( as e e Orat. in fun . S. Basilii . To. 2. p. 918. Gregory Nyssen does of his Brother S. Basil , and that Apostle of the Gentiles , that there was in them the same measure of holy love . Thus when he was condemn'd to be led bound to Rome , f f Martyr . Ignatii . p. 4. he heartily thankt God , that thought him worthy , with the Apostle Paul , to be bound with Iron Chains ; and when he came in sight of Puteoli , he made haste to leave the Ship , g g Ibid. p. 7. desiring to tread in the steps of that holy man ; and this he wishes might also happen to him in Heaven , h h Epist. ad Ephes. p. 40. that he might be admitted to the pleasure of walking and conversing with him , whensoever he should see God . And as he was an Imitator of him in his actions , so also in his way of Writing , having digested the Epistles of the Apostle , and made his sense his own , quoting him on all occasions : and whatever Dailleé may object , this to me is a strong argument , that he was an Apostolical Prelate , who was so intimately acquainted with S. Paul's Writings ; and what nobler Pattern could he propose to himself , than that elegant and rational Apostle ? And this himself in the a a Pag. 64. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Inscription of his Epistle ad Trallianos , calls the Apostolick Character : and of it I could give some Iustances , but that I am deterr'd , because it hath been undertook by that excellent person the Bishop of Chester , who I wish had publisht that Commentary of his , which he b b Ubi supr. p. 203. promist , wherein all the passages in Ignatius should be reduc'd to their Originals , and collated with the words and sentences of S. Paul . Nor is the conjecture incomparably bold , if we assert , that whereas these Epistles were annext to that of Polycarp , which they follow in the Lord Primates Edition , they might also be publickly read in the Church , as well as that Epistle , or the other of St. Clemens to the Corinthians .

XXIII . And here it seems to me very proper to insert somewhat of the Orders and Institutions of that Age ; particularly of that Question which hath been and is so much discuss'd , whether Ignatius saw that Vision which Socrates records , and which occasioned the introducing the Antiphonal Hymns into the Church ; for c c Hist. Eccl. lib. 6. cap. 8. Socrates , who is the only Historian of the Ancients , that relates it , tells us of a great Tumult that happened at Constantinople under S. John Chrysostom , by reason of the Arians singing alternately some Psalms of their own in dishonour of our Saviour , and S. Chrysostom's introducing others instead of them ; and thence takes an occasion to give an account of the Original of the practice , That S. Ignatius saw a Vision of Angels praising the holy Trinity with alternate Hymns , ( like that of the Prophetick Vision , Is. 6.3 . ) and that thereupon he introduc'd this Custom into the Church of Antioch , and from thence it was propagated to other Churches . This Story out of Socrates hath since found a place in the d d Lib. 10. cap. 9. Tripartite History , in the life of S. Chrysostom , writ by e e Tom. 8. Op. Chrysost. p. 199. Georgius Patriarch of Alexandria , in the acute Critick f f God . 75. p. 141. Edit. Haeschel . Photius and others . But the Antiquity of the Custom having been by many disputed , and its Eopcha set as low as Flavianus and Diodorus in the Fourth Century , I think my self bound to adjust its due Age. The praising God in Holy Songs was certainly as ancient as the Church Christian , and it hath been the common practice of the Hereticks in all Ages to corrupt the allowed Hymns , or to introduce new ones of their own . So Harmonius , the Son of Bardesanes , and after him Paulus Samosatenus , and then Apollinaris writ many such Psalms , wherein they infus'd the Venome of their Heresies ; a a Baron . Tom. 2. an. 264. p. 654. in opposition to whom Ephrem Syrus made others for the Churches of Syria , and Gregory Nazianzen silenc'd Apollinaris , which was also done in the Western Churches by Ambrose , Damasus , Paulinus , Prudentius , and others . And it was particularly laid to the charge of Paulus Samosatenus , by the b b Apud Euseb. l. 7. c. 24. Council of Antioch in their Synodical Epistle , that he had exploded the Hymns that were used to be sung to our Saviour's honour , as a Novel Custom , and introduc'd by men of Yesterday , and provided light and idle Women in the midst of the Church , in the most Solemn Feast of Easter , to sing impertinent Songs to his own praise : and this passage may serve to answer that place in c c Hist. lib. 2. c. 24. Theodoret , [ That the Church of Antioch had their Custom of singing their Antiphona's from Flavianus and Diodorus , who introduc'd it in opposition to Leontius , the Arian Bishop of that City , in the Reign of the Emperour Constantius , just after which time it was introduc'd at Rome by d d Platin. in Damaso . Pope Damasus , and at Millain by e e Ambros . Cont. Auxent . & Aug. Confes. l 9. c. 6 , 7. &c. S. Ambrose , ] the usage having been begun by Ignatius at Antioch , in contradiction to the Docetae and Ebionites , who did assert the same or like Heresies with Arius , denying the Divinity of Christ . Afterward the Right was discountenanc'd by his Successor Paulus Samosatenus , and so came to be dis-us'd till Flavianus restor'd the ancient and laudable practise , whom by a mistake f f Hist. lib. 3. c. 13. p. 47. Philostorgius , and g g Apud Nicet . Thesaur . Orthodox . fid. lib. 5. cap. 30. Theodorus Mopsuestenus make the Author of the Gloria Patri . For I am sure it was no Novelty in h h Tom. 2. Epist. 62. ad Neo-Caesar . p. 843 , 844. S. Basil's time , who being opposed by some of the Followers of Sabellius and Marcellus for obliging his Churches to such Hymns , pleads for himself , That he had the Example of the Churches of Aegypt , Lybia , Thebes , Palaestine , Arabia , Phaenicia , Syria , Mesopotamia , and several other places ; and methinks it could not be an Universal Practice of a sudden , as it must have been if introduc'd by Flavianus , S. Basil's Cotemporary . i i Tom. 2. a● . 152. p. 136. Baronius informs us , That the Angelick Hymn , ( Gloria in excelsis , &c. ) was enjoyn'd by Pope Telesphorus , circ , an. 152. to be sung at the Consecration of the Eucharist ; and I am apt to think it was done alternately , if not , I am sure k k Lib. 10. Epist. 97. Pliny , who lived with Ignatius , impeaches the Christians of that Age of no other Crime , save that they were wont to meet at a set time before day , and to sing among themselves invicem , alternately a Song to Christ , whom they account a God ; which is a plain description of the practice of that Age. And a a Hist. Eccl. lib. 2. c. 16. Eusebius out of Philo makes the observance coaevous with the Church of Alexandria under S. Mark , affirming , that among the Primitive Christians , when one began to sing , the rest quietly hearkned to him , and then sung together the remainder of the Hymn , probably bably in imitation of Moses , and Miriam , Exod. 15.1 , 21. So that it is likely that the usage may be ancienter in some Churches than our Martyr , but not improbable that his Vision might be the occasion of bringing in the Custom into the Church of Antioch : and as the Custom prevailed so early in the East , and in Aegypt ; so also in the Southern parts of Africk , and at Carthage ; for b b Lib. 2. ad uxor . cap. 6. Tertullian mentions this mutual singing , wherein they provok'd one another to Emulation who should Sing best : And c c dc Orat. dominic . p. 160. Cyprian quotes the Hymn at the Celebration of the Eucharist , begun by the Priest with sursum corda , and answered to by the People with habemus ad dominum : and the practice carries its own Vindication with it ; for I remember somewhere Greg. Naz. calls Man , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a Creature made answerable to the Angels ; and that d d Tom. 2. Homil. 55. in Matth. p. 355. S. Chrysostom relates and vindicates the Hymns of the Monks , those Angels of the Desart , as he calls them , wherein they intermix'd the Doxology , and then went to the Hymn again , herein following the Laws of the Apostles , beginning with the Doxology , and ending with it , and beginning with it again . So that it seems by him to have been an Apostolical Tradition .

XXIV . Here was also a fair Occasion offer'd to have instructed the World , not only that Episcopacy was then a venerable Order in the Church , but that the Bishop had Power to impose a Liturgy , from that famous place of the e e P. 12. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. Epistle to the Magnesians : nor can I think that it was a Novel Usurpation of the Prelates in those early days , but that set Forms of Prayer are of Apostolical Institution , who herein followed the Example of their infallible Master ; who , as he made the Jewish Baptism a Christian Sacrament , and took the Symbols of the Eucharist from their Custom of Blessing the Bread and the Cup at their Passeover , so was not ashamed to collect the Petitions of his most incomparable Prayer out of the several set Forms of Petition in use among that people . 'T is true , they had in that happy saeculum the miraculous Spirit or Gift of Prayer , which enabled the Apostolical Priest without praemeditation , to compose Prayers according to the perpetual or emergent occasions of the Christian Congregation , whereof he was the Guide ( where we may observe what the Apostle means when he mentions Prayers by the Spirit , and that this was given to cross the design of our Modern Pretenders to it , that every man might not take what Liberty himself pleased to pour out his own Effusions ) yet this extraordinary Charisma and Afflatus soon ceas'd , and as it abated was succeeded by some of those very Forms which the holy Spirit had so prodigiously dictated , collected either by the Apostles themselves , or their immediate Successors . The Greek Church have an undisputed Tradition among them , that whereas the Apostles spent whole Days and Nights in their holy Offices , the length of those Devotions gave occasion to S. James to omit those Prayers , that were used only on extraordinary and emergent occasions , ( and yet even in those the Apostles did not disdain to follow ancient Precepts , for the Prayer Act. 4. from v. 24. to 31. is nothing but an Abstract of Psalm the second ; and the glorifyed Saints , Apocal. 15.3 , 4. were not ashamed to sing an Eucharistical Hymn , composed of the Songs of Moses , David , and Jeremy , ) and to chuse and cull out the most pertinent of those Prayers for the dayly use of the Church , which is since called his Liturgy , and was afterward again shortned by S. Basil , and S. Chrysostom ; and if any man should dispute the Authenticalness of his or S. Mark's , or S. Peter's Liturgies in that Church , they would first admire and then deride him ; though it cannot be denyed , but that there are many Additions and Interpolations in them as now extant , which are not of equal Authority with those Collects , which are truly Primitive : but that also is an Argument that there were anciently such Liturgies left to the Church as they came out of the Apostles hands , till they fell into the hands of evil men . And for this notion of the Spirit of Prayer we are obliged to a a Tom. 3. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 8. Rom. 26. p. 120. S. Chrysostom , who plainly affirms , That to them , that were newly Baptiz'd , God was pleas'd to give many miraculous Donatives which were called Spirits ; for he saith , Let the Spirit of the Prophets be subject to the Prophets ; for one had the Spirit of Prophesie , and he foretold Futurities ; another of Wisdom , and he instructed the World in the Laws of Piety ; a third of Healing , and he cured the Sick ; a fourth of Miracles , and he did raise the Dead ; another of Tongues , and he spake divers Languages ; and among all these there was also the Cift of Prayer , which also is called the Spirit of Prayer ; and he that was so endowed , prayed for the whole Congregation ; for whereas we are ignorant of many things that are necessary for us , and apt to ask what is unnecessary , therefore fell this Spirit of supplication on one certain person , and he stood up and made known the common necessities of the Church , and instructed others to pray ; and this he did with much compunction and many groans . Of which usage the Embleme is yet retain'd in the Deacons bidding of Prayers . a a Selden . not in Eutych . p. 41 ; 42. So when the Spirit of Prophesie ceas'd in the Jewish Church , Ezra and the great Consistory instituted certain Forms of Devotion of dayly use , from which no man might dare to recede .

XXV . Among these setled and establish'd Forms of the Apostles we may suppose none were so likely to be retain'd as those at the Celebration of the Eucharist , which then the good men receiv'd every day . For in all the ancient Liturgies we find the same Form ( admitting a few Alterations ) which the Church of England uses in that tremendous Sacrament ; and indeed is the same , abating a few Circumstances , in the Liturgies of the whole Christian World , among the Oriental and Western Christians , the Syrians , and Aegyptians , the Abassines , and Armenians , the Melchites , Jacobites , and Nestorians , who though in other things they disagree , are herein united ; which makes me imagine their Ceremonies at this Sacrament so uniformly observed could flow from no other Fountain than that of the Apostles , according to that Maxime of S. Austin , that what is univerfally practised and was never instituted by a General Council , must be imputed to the Apostles . b b Aug. Ep. 59. Paulino resp . ad quaest. 6. For the Vniversal Church had a set Service which she constantly used at the Celebration of the Sacrament , whereof a part was perform'd before the Consecration of the Elements , another during the Consecration and Distribution , the Solemnity being alwayes concluded with the Lords Prayer , the Eucharistical Hymns , and the Priests benediction ; and that it was so from that passage , Lift up your hearts , to the end of the Communion Service , I shall adventure to make appear from the most profound Antiquity .

XXVI . For c c Chrysost. Tom. 3. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in 2 Cor. p. 647. after the Prayers of the Church , which we call the first Service , were finish'd , and the Catechumens , Energumeni , and Paenitentes were dismist , then began another Collect , which only the Faithful said , being prostrate on the Ground , ( which I suppose was like that General Confession in our Books , ( Almighty God , Father of our Lord Jesus Christ , &c. ) then they arose and gave the holy kiss each to other , after which the Priest being about to handle the tremendous Mysteries , prayes over the people , and the people pray for the Priest ; for what else mean those words ( and with thy spirit ) and when he returns with his new Invocation , the people say , ( it is meet and right so to do ) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and then he begins not the Consecration of the Eucharistical Elements , but the Angelick Hymn , ( therefore with Angels and Arch-Angels , &c. ) and this is excellently agreeable to the Liturgy of that a a Liturg. Chrysost T●● . 6. p. 996 , 997. L. 8. c. 16. eminent Father . I will briefl● consider the several parts .

XXVII . The Sursum cordais mentioned by the [b] Author of the Apostolical Constitutions , and he would poorly have made good his pretence , who-ever put on that Mask , had not this Hymn been instituted by those holy men : and the Testimony will be very considerable , if the Author of those Books be , as some men conjecture , Clemens of Alexandria . We meet with it also as an Hymn of Universal Practice in c c De Orat. Dominic . p. 160. S. Cyprian , in d d Catech. mystagog. 5. p. 241. S. Cyril of Hierusalem , and in e e Ep. 57. & Ep. 120. c. 19. & Ep. 156 de spirit . & lit . c. 11. de bono perseverant . c. 13. & de vera relig. c. 13. &c. Vide Dr. Hamm. Letters to Cheynel . p. 26 , 27. S. Austin frequently ( that we may omit Dionysius the Areopagite , because not so ancient as pretended ) the famous Bishop of Hippo affirming , That they were , verba ab ipsis Apostolorum temporibus petita , words derived to the Church from the days of the Apostles , and S. Cyril telling us that they were traditionally derived down to his time , and what was Tradition in his days could be little less than Apostolical ; ( and it is observable , That the Liturgy which that ancient Father so largely and Learnedly explains in his Catechetick Lectures was the Liturgy of S. James , which was then in use in his Church of Hierusalem ) then followed the Hymn ( therefore with Angels , &c. ) the Prayer , which the Greek Churches call 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and which S. Chrysostom means , when he says , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. thou singest and joinest Consort with those blest Spirits ; and Gregory f f Tom. 1. p. 957. Nyssen says they are the words which the Seraphims with six Wings say , when they sing the Hymns with the Christian Congregation ; and was doubtless the g g Just. M. Apol. 2. p. 97. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that Eucharistical Hymn , which was sung when the Christians brought Bread and Wine to the Priest , which he receiving return'd Praises to God in the name of the Son , and the holy Ghost . The Form of Consecration of the Elements was , says h h Tom. 4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . 6. in 2 Timoth. p. 339. S. Chrys. of indispensible necessity , and what was then retain'd in the Church was the same which Peter and Paul , and Christ himself used at the Consecration of the sacred Symbols . The Form is at large in i i Tom. 4. lib. 4. de sucra . cap. 4 , & 5. p. 377. Edit. Erasm . S. Ambrose after this manner . In what Form , and in whose words , is the Consecration made ? in the words of the Lord Jesus . For in all the other Additionals thanks are given to God , Suppliplications made for the people , for Kings , and all Orders of men , ( this also k k Apoleg . c. 39. Tertullian , mentions , and l l ubi supr. Justin Martyr , and S. m m Ep. 119. c. 18. Austin call properly the Common Prayer , like our Collect for the whole State of Christ's Church militant here on Earth ) but when he comes to Consecrate the venerable Sacrament , then he no longer uses his own words , but the words of Christ . Which Form of Consecration he thus expresses , a a Ambr. ibid. c. 5. the Priest says , Make this Oblation prepared for us a reasonable and acceptable Sacrifice , which is the Figure of the Body and Blood of our Master Jesus Christ , who , the day before he suffered , took the Bread in his hands , and look'd up to Heaven , giving thanks to the Holy Father , Almighty , Eternal God ; he blessed it , brake it , and , being so broken , gave it to his Apostles and Disciples , saying , Take , and eat ye all of it , for this is my Body , which shall be broken for many . Likewise the day before he suffer'd , after Supper , he took the Cup and look'd up to heaven giving thanks to the holy Father , Almighty eternal God , he blessed it and delivered it to his Apostles and Disciples , saying , Take and drink ye all of it , for this is my Blood . See , all these words are the words of the Evangelist , till you come to Take my Body , or my Blood . Observe every particular he says , who the night before he suffered took Bread in his sacred hands , &c. therefore it is to very great purpose and advantage that thou sayest , Amen . So S. Ambrose largely and to the parpose .

XXVIII . The Form of administration was the same with ours , b b Cyrilaibi supra . The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ , which was given for thee , preserve thy Body and Soul unto everlasting Life ; and to this the people said Amen , with a loud Voice . After the Celebration of the Mysteries , c c Ambr. ubi supra lib. 5. cap. 4. p. 380. Hier. lib. 3. adv. Pelag. Tom. 2. p. 309. both Priest and People said the Lord's Prayer , which was of the entireness of the Mystery ; and so our Church uses it ; though in the Eastern Churches it preceeded the Prayer of Consecration ; for this Prayer was thought so necessary , and indispensible a part of the Christian Sacrifice , that the d d Apost. Conslit . l. 7. cap. 25 , 26. Ancients were obliged to use it three times every day ; but especially in the Eucharist , as say all the Liturgick Writers , and therefore e e Tert. de Orat. cap. 1. praemiss● , legitimâ , & ordinariâ oratione , quasi fundamento accidentium . Vide eund. de fug . in persec . init . Tertullian rationally calls this , the ordinary and lawful Form of Devotion , which must be laid as a Foundation , on which we may build our Petitions for our particular necessities . But I cannot believe Gregory the Great in this particular , when he f f Lib. 7. indict . 2. Epist. 63. affirms , That the Apostles used no other Form of Devotion but this in the Consecration of the Sacrament ; for I cannot but suppose that there were some Additional Collects and Hymns subjoined , such as what I have already mention'd ; although in truth that very Prayer contain all things in it ; g g Aug. Ep. 121. c. 12. for whatever else we can say either may raise our Spirits , or heighten our Devotion , but can never out do the efficacy of this Form : To this succeeded a a Aug. de Civ . Dei lib. 10. c. 6. the Prayer like that in our Liturgy , We offer unto thee our selves , our Souls and Bodies , &c. and then the Priest dismist the Communicants with his Benediction .

XXIX . And of this sort also am I apt to think was that custom of saying at the naming of the Gospel , Glory be to thee , O Lord , agreeable to that of Acts 11.18 . where the People , when they heard of the Conversion of the Gentiles , glorifyed God ; and under this head I suppose I could muster some other Collects of our own , and the ancient Church , but I forbear . I know there are many Objections against the ancient Liturgies , by reason of some Additions , and the mention of some Ecclesiastick Practices not coaevous with the Apostles , but this Argument is not of so great weight ; for we may as well say , that our Common-Prayer-Book is not the same with that of Queen Elizabeth , because we have a new Form of Baptism of those of riper years , a new Form for the thirtieth of January , &c. and for Seamen , some few Collects added that were not then in use , the Doctrine of the Sacraments added to the Catechism , and a new Translation of Scripture introduc'd , and that we pray for King Charles and Queen Katherine , whereas they pray'd for Queen Elizabeth ; these things being alwayes varied according to the present Exigencies of the Church , and yet the Liturgy the same . I will close all with that of b b DeDogm . Eccl. c. 30. Gennadius , who speaks the sence of the fifth Century , observationum Sacerdotalium Sacramenta respiciamus , &c. Let us pay our Veneration to the Mysteries of the Priestly Prayers , which being established and delivered to the Church by the Apostles , are with a strict Vniformity celebrated in the whole Catholick Church , that an Vniformity of Devotion may go along with the Vniformity of Faith : For when the holy Prelates do become Ambassadors in the behalf of the Congregation to the Divine Clemency , they undertake the Interests of Mankind , and with the assistance of the whole Church , that sighs and prayes with them , desire that the Infidels may be made Converts , the Idolatrous reclaim'd from their Impiety ; that the veil may be taken from the hearts of the Jews , that they may be Partakers of the Light of truth ; that Hereticks may become penitent , and return to thebosome of the Catholick Church ; that Schismaticks may be endowed with the Spirit of peaceableness and humility ; that the Lapsi may be restored to the Church-Communion , and the Catechumeni admitted to Baptism : and that these things are not perfunctorily and in vain desired from God , the effects have made manifest ; for out of every one of these sorts God hath made Proselytes to the Truth , whom he hath rescued from the Powers of Darkness , and translated into the Kingdom of his Son .

XXX . When the famous Confessor was brought to his journeys end , and heard the Lyons roaring , with an uncommon joy , says S. a a Catal. v. Ignat. Hierom , he thus exprest himself , I am Gods bread , &c. This Dailleé would use as an argument to invalidate the authority of these Epistles , and the so often and justly celebrated Prelate b b Part 1. cap. 6. p. 84. & cap. 9. p. 130 , 131. & part 2. c 16. p. 217. Bishop Pearson vigorously opposes the entertainment of the Opinion , as if the words had never been spoken in the Amphitheatre , and the assertion would too much depreciate the Epistles . But the authority of S. Hierom inclines me to be of another belief , who plainly affirms , that Ignatius thus exprest himself , when he heard the Lyons roaring : and although I am not ignorant , that that acute Father through haste hath committed many faults , by mistaking Eusebius ; yet I can hardly believe him deceiv'd in this , while c c To. 5. p. 504. S. Chrysostom avers the same , as I understand him , who praising Ignatius for his resolution in dying with the greatest satisfaction and willingness , asks this Question , And how know you this ? and answers himself , We know it from the words he spake , when he was about to dye , I wish I could enjoy these beasts . For though he were about to dye from the time of his condemnation , yet this implies to me , that he was nearer his death , than when at Antioch . And d d Act. S. Ignat. apud Surium . Febr. 1. Simeon Metaphrastes tells us , that he thus bespake the Romans ( though there be no such thing in the ancient acts of his Martyrdom ) O you Spectators of this my combate , know that these things have befallen me not for any crime of mine , but that I might follow my God , and enjoy him whom I insatiably long for , for I am his Corn , and must be ground by the teeth of the Beasts , that I may become pure Bread . And of this mind is the great e e To. 2. an. 110 p. 50. Cardinal , though no man more vigorous than he to assert the genuineness of these Epistles ; for to urge , f f Pears . part. 1. cap. 6. p. 87. that he might hear the Lyons roar at Smyrna as well as at Rome , is to me a far-fetcht conjecture . This therefore , I suppose , was a speech common in his mouth , and a testimony that he was not driven , but went willingly out of the world : and in what that g g Ubi supr. p. 83. &c. great man affirms , that Maximus was the first that dreamt of any words used proverbially by our Martyr , he seems to me to answer himself , by vindicating him against Dailleé ; for when Maximus says of those words , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , my love is crucified , that perhaps it was a familiar sentence to him ; so it looks , says that eminent Prelate , and might be used by him in his speeches as well as writings ; and adds , that Dailleé's argument from thence , that because the words are in one of his Epistles , therefore they could not be spoken by him ( though it be the same argument which himself after uses ) is a frivolous distinction , and unworthy of Dailleé . But who will believe , continues he , that this was a familiar expression of Ignatius ? I answer , S. Hierom did , and Sophronius , ( and I think S. Chrysostom ) Simeon Metaphrastes , Baronius , the Lord Primate , and others . But who can imagine , that ever these words were spoken by him before his Condemnation ? I answer , that no man certainly is so mad , as to suppose this Apophthegm used before his Sentence , but that between it and his Execution , in which time he writ all his Epistles , both that speech , My love is crucified , and this , I am Gods Corn , &c. might be frequent in his mouth , as testimonies of his courage and love to Heaven , first written by him , and afterward on all occasions spoken ; which at last that a a Ubi supr. p. 87. si qu●● fuerint post ea decantata , &c. excellent man seems to grant . And this answer both vindicates the Ancients , and yet gives no assistance to Dailleé's Hypothesis ; and of this opinion , after I had finisht this , did I find the Learned b b Life of S. Ignat. sect. 8. p. 106. Dr. Cave , to whose industry and diligence the Church owes the reparation of many of her ancient ruines .

XXXI . In his Epistles I am accosted with unaccustomed demonstrations of Christian gallantry , and an ardent zeal , and such longings for Martyrdom , as argue a soul strongly transported with the love of Jesus , and immortality , an infinite care of his disconsolate and widowed Church of Antioch , which in every Letter he recommends to the prayers and assistances of those Churches to whom he writes , but especially to S. Polycarp ; but above all , a most holy vigour and earnestness against Heresie and Schism , there being not one Epistle wherein he takes not care to condemn the Heresies of that age , to discountenance Schism and Faction , and passionnately to recommend Obedience to the Prelates of the Church : And since The View of Antiquity , handling this subject ex professo , hath given us so poor an account , I will take leave to transcribe a few passages to that purpose .

XXXII . The great design of his Epistle to the Romans , is to engage the Christians of that Church , Epist. ad Rom. p. 21 , 23 , 24 , 25. Ed. Usser . Lond. 16●7 . not to use any means to hinder the consummation of his course by Martyrdom , telling them , that such an act of Charity would be a great piece of injustice to him , that he never , till the sentence of condemnation past on him , began to be a true Disciple of Christ , beseeching them by their prayers to hasten the day of his dissolution ; assuring them that he would invite the wild beasts to devour him , that neither the fire , nor the Cross , nor the teeth of those ravenous and untamed Lyons , that neither the breaking of his bones , the racking of his joints , the bruising of his body , and on the head of all this the utmost torments that Satans malice could inflict , would signifie any thing , so he might enjoy his Master Jesus ; that were he Lord of the ends of the earth , and all the Kingdoms of the world combined into one Empire for him , they neither could tempt nor profit him ; that he had rather dye for his beloved Jesus , than be Monarch of the Vniverse : for what is a man profited to gain the world , and lose his soul ? that he longed for no one but him that dyed for him , and rose again ; that he was a passionate lover of death , for his love was crucified ; that he was not satisfied with corruptible nourishment , or the pleasures of this life , but only desired the bread of God which came down from heaven , the bread of life , which is the flesh of Jesus Christ the Son of God , born in the latter age of the world of the seed of David and Abraham ; that he longed for no other drink but his blood , the great testimony of the invincible Charity of Jesus , and the means of attaining to life Eternal . Which last passage I am inclinable to believe hath its relation to that good old Custom of giving the Sacrament of the Eucharist as a Viaticum to dying persons .

XXXIII . Id. ad Ephes. p. 7 , 8. Against the Heresies of the Age he is very smart . Be not deceived , my Brethren ; Adulterers shall not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven , and if they shall dye who do these things in the flesh , how much more they who by impure Doctrines corrupt and prostitute the honour of the holy and chaste Faith , for which Jesus was crucified . Such a polluted person shall be thrust into unquenchable fire , and all they , that hearken to him . I beseech you therefore , Brethren , ( and yet it is not I , but the Love of Christ which intreats you ) make use of no other but Christian Food , and abstain cautiously from the strange Plant , which is Heresie . There are many Time-servers who embrace the Lord Jesus , and believe proportionably to the advantages they receive by the Faith ; Men that give an envenom'd draught , Ad Trallian . p. 18. mingled with what makes it luscious and palatable , which he that is ignorant greedily swallows to his own Damnation : keep your selves charily from such , which is easily done , if you avoid Pride and self-conceit , and unite your selves inseparably to the Lord Jesus , to your Prelate , and to the Ordinances of the Apostles . Ad Smyrn . p. 35. Of which Hereticks he tells us , that they denyed the Passion and Resurrection of our Saviour , and as they had forfeited the Faith , so they had lost their Charity , took no care of the Poor , of the Widows , or the Orphans ; had no Prayers or Celebration of the Eucharist among them ; of whom , though Mr. H. p. 19. tells us , that Menander , Basilides , and others are named by Ignatius , yet I must aver , that though he means them , yet he no-where expresly mentions them , but rather professes , Ibid. that he will omit the giving a particular account of them , not thinking it fit to remember the names of such Infidels , till they had repented .

XXXIV . Nor is his Pen less keen against Schism ; Ad Ph●adelph . p. 28. 30. You being children of the light flye all Schisms , and false Doctrines ; where your Shepherd is , there do ye as Sheep follow him , for there are many Wolves . Abstain from all noxious Plants , which the Son of God never cultivated , because they were not planted by his Father . Be not deceived , Brethren , if any man be a follower of a Schismatick , that man hath no inheritance in the Kingdom of God ; for where there is division and wrath , in that place God hath no residence : Fly therefore Schism , Ad Smyrn . p. 36. as the beginning of all mischief . He that is not within the Sanctuary cannot partake of the Bread of God ; Ad Ephes. p. 3. for if the prayer of one or two be so powerful , how much more the conjoined supplications of a Bishop and his whole Flock ? He therefore that shuns the publick Assemblies , is proud , and hath cut himself off from the holy Communion , for it is written , that God resists the proud . Let us therefore studiously decline opposing the Bishop , that we may not be guilty of Rebelling against God . Vse your utmost endeavour that you may meet often to praise and magnifie your Maker , Ibid. p. 6. for by such frequent Assemblies the powers of Satans Kingdom are weakened , and his design to ruine you for ever blasted by the Vniformity of your Faith : There is no greater blessing than peace , by which all the quarrels in Heaven and Earth are composed . Such are his severe remarques on all the disturbers of Ecclesiastick Union , and yet no man a greater adviser to Christian Condescension and Compassion than Ignatius ; Ibid. p. 5. Overcome , says he , the fury of such men by meekness , their proud boastings by Humility , their railings by Prayers , their Errours by continuing stedfast in the Faith , and their wild and ungoverned manners by a gentle and Christian demeanour .

XXXV . Nor does he only discover the Distemper , but prescribes a Remedy , by enjoining a strict submission to Episcopal Authority in every Epistle ; For as our Master Christ never did any thing either by himself or by his Apostles without his Father , Ad Magnes . p. 12. so neither undertake ye any thing without the Bishop and his Presbyters ; nor do ye indulge to any private Fancies of your own , how plausible or reasonable soever ; but in the same Assembly let there be one Prayer and Supplication , one mind , one hope in charity and joy unblameable , for there is one Jesus , Ad Trall . p. 1 6/7. than whom nothing can be better . Vndertake nothing without your Bishop , and be subject to your Presbyters , as to the Apostles of Christ ; and honour the Deacons , as the Ministers of the Mysteries of Jesus , for without these there can be no Church . Ad Philadelph . p. 30. I cry aloud , and speak it with an audible Voice be obedient to the Bishop , Presbyters , and Deacons . Some men suspected , that I spake this , as if I had foreseen the Schismatical Designs of some ; but he is my Witness , for whom I am bound with this Chain , that I had not the notice from flesh and blood , but the Spirit of God revealed these things unto me , telling me , Do nothing without your Bishop , keep your Body undefiled as the Temple of God ; love Vnity , fly Divisions ; be Imitators of Christ as he is of his Father . My soul for theirs who obey the Bishop , Ad Polycarp . Presbyters , and Deacons ; he that honoureth the Bishop is honoured of God ; he that does any thing without his Privity is a servant to the Devil : Let nothing belonging to the Church be done without the Prelate . Ad Smy●n , p. 36. Think that Encharist only valid , which the Bishop consecrates , or some one by him deputed : it is not lawful without him either to Baptize or Celebrate the Love-Feasts ; where the Bishop is let the Congregation be ; as where Christ is , there is the Catholick Church . And lest he might seem to impose all the stress on the Laity , and prescribe no holy Cautions to the Governours of the Church how to demean themselves , the beginning of the Epistle to Polycarp is wholly spent in advices to that Apostolical Bishop ; and giving a Character of the Episcopal Office . I will only instance in one memorable saying more of his , that famous passage which Theophilus , Origen , S. Basil , Hierom , and others borrow from him , Ad Ephes. p. 8. that there were three things whereof the Prince of the Air was ignorant , the Virginity of the Blessed Mother of God , the Incarnation of her Son , and his death and Crucifixion ; three venerable Mysteries that were now publickly proclaimed to the World in their accomplishment , but were contrived by God in eternal silence and secresie .

XXXVI . And whereas some doubt hath been made , how under so strict a custody he could find leisure to write so many Letters , and make so many holy Sermons and Exhortations as he did ; we answer a a Baron . Tom. 2. an. 109. p. 34. & Pearson part. 2. c. 11. p. 139. that he bought every moment of that holy leisure from his Guards ; every stay of his being their Market , where they made him purchase each hours freedom from their inspection and restraints with greater Sums , growing more fierce and untractable on their gentle treatment , that they might extort new and larger Compositions ; for such was the Charity of that Age , that they accounted nothing dearer than the concerns of their Religion , and therefore grudged at no cost to purchase better usage for the Confessors thereof ; and of this b b De Mort. Peregr . p. 996. Lucian is a sufficient witness : and such questionless was their Zeal and Love towards Ignatius , and by this means he purchas'd his hours of Privacy , notwithstanding Eusebius seems to oppose the Opinion , c c Hist. Eccl. l. 3. c. 30. implying that he did it rather by stealth , than their Connivance .

XXXVII . It is also proposed as a great difficulty by the acute a a Not. in Euseb. Chron. an . MMCXX III. p. 189. Scaliger , how it came to pass that Ignatius should not be martyred at Antioch , but carryed thence to Rome ? telling us , that none but Denizens of that great City used to appeal from the Governour of the Province , as S. Paul did , and if we assert this concerning Ignatius , then could he not have been thrown to the Wild Beasts ; the b b L. 48. Tit. 8. ad leg . Cornel. de Sicar . & Venef . Law forbidding to punish any Citizen in that manner , ( it being in truth a Death decreed to the vilest and most profligate of Malefactors only ) and at last professes , That he is ignorant how to solve it , and therefore proposes it , that others might try their wits about it . And though I pretend not to unriddle Mysteries , yet we may give more than one reason , why Trajan , who himself , and not the Governour of the Province condemn'd the holy man , ordered him to suffer at Rome . c c Lib. 48. Tit. 19. 〈◊〉 , ad ●es●●● It was usual in all the Provinces to send the Heads and Leaders of Factions , famous Thieves and Murtherers , or any that had Excellencies more than ordinary , as strength of Body or Skill , to suffer at Rome . Now Ignatius was the most remarkable man among the Christians of that Country , a Patriarch of a famous See , venerable for his Age and Piety , for his Zeal and Humility , for his Gallantry and Courage , in freely offering himself to the Emperour , and reproving his Idolatrous Worship . To this d d Tom. 5. p. 502 , 503. S. Chrysostom subjoins , That it was the Devil's Policy to cut off the Bishops , and that in strange Countreys , to which he hurryed them , that he might prostitute their Fortitude , and bring down their Resolutions , taking them unprovided of Necessaries , and worn out with the length of their Journeys ; that he might render their Sufferings more severe and acute , that they might dye there unknown and unpityed , not as Martyrs for Religion , but as great Malefactors : The people of Antioch , had Ignatius dyed at home , would have been ravish'd with Admiration of his Bravery , and with Love to his Piety , when they should see that Bishop , who had preach'd the Gospel so long among them , now dye for it , and seal that truth with his Blood , which he had so often profess'd in his Discourses ; and God also so ordered it , to enhance the worth of our Martyr's Crown , that the Churches through which he journeyed might be confirm'd by his Sermons , Letters , and Example ; that by his Blood he might help to propitiate the Favours of Heaven , which had been demerited by the many Idolatrous Enormities of that wicked City ; as also that in that publick place he might preach Piety to the World , and give a Testimony of the Truth of the Resurrection of Jesus , and the hopes of the Christian World , that they also shall rise again to a better Life ; these Reasons , after this Paragraph was written , I found urged by the Learned e e Life of Ign. Sect. 5. p. 103 104. vide Halleix . Apol. pro script . Ignat. c. 6. Dr. Cave , to which he also adds , that this was done to deterre others , that all that saw him in his Travels might observe how odious this Religion was in the Eyes of so brave and accomplish'd a Prince as Trajan , who was the Darling of the Empire .

XXXVIII . This Journey to Rome was b b Baron . Tom. 2. an. 109. p. 31. undertaken in the latter end of Summer , for in August he was at Smyrna , whence he writ his Epistle to the Romans ; and on the first of February in the ensuing year , say the Latines , but say the Greeks , on Decemb. the 20th of the same year , was Martyred ; of the manner and circumstances of whose departure , Ado c c Apud eund. Tom. 2. an. 110. p. 51. & Martyrol . ●ebr. 1. Viennensis mentions many things , which the Ancients are silent in , as , that his Shoulders were bruised with Leaden Bullets , his sides torn with Hooks and sharp Stones , his hands filled with fire , and his sides burnt with Paper dipt in Oyle , and that he was commanded to stand on hot burning Coals , and his sides again torn with Hooks and sharp Shells ; of the truth of which Story the Cardinal much doubts ; but I think that ancient Martyrologist is only mistook in the place , putting Rome for Antioch ( where probably he was so tortured ) as he is also out in the names of the Consuls for that year . And agreeable hereunto is the Relation of the Greek d d 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Menaeon , . that this was done to subdue the invincible Courage of the Martyr before his Condemnation ; but when this would not produce the desired Effect , that then the Emperour denounc'd the fatal Sentence against him . Nor was this only the Opinion of Ado , but before him of venerable Bede ; and before both , of the Collectors of the Acts of this Saint in the Greek and Latine Manuscripts of the Bodley and Cotton Libraries , as says the venerable e e Ep. ad Lect. ante● Martyr . Ignatri . Primate , and since them , of many others .

XXXIX . But as soon as the Martyr had begun this his tedious Journey , the Persecution at Antioch ceas'd ( and only there , as I am inclined to believe by the a a Pag. 7. Acts of S. Ignatius's Martyrdom ; for he being at Rome , takes notice of the continuation of the Persecution there , which he prays God to put an end to ) the Emperour thinking it sufficient in such a populous City to cut off their Leader ; Providence so ordering it , that at the same time there came Letters from Tiberianus the President of Palestine , and Pliny the Proconsul of Bithynia , ( both which the Lord b b P● . , 9. 10 Primate hath annext to the Martyrdom of our Saint ) which suddenly alter'd the Scene of Affairs , and freed the Eastern Church of a hot Persecution ; only the favour could not reach Ignatius , because his life was forfeited to the Law , he being condemn'd before this Cessation , though the Execution were respited till he came to Rome ; but the Blood of this holy man brought down speedy Vengeance on that City , for the next year after , as c c To. 2. an. 111. p. 55. Baronius proves ; not till seven years after , says Johannes Malela , and the most Learned d d Not. in Martyr . Ignat . p. 5¾ . Vsher , a terrible Earthquake almost buryed it in its own ruines , as it is elegantly described by the Historian e e L. 68. in Trajano . Dio. It was preceeded by horrible Thundrings , and prodigious Winds , and at last the Earth-quake threw down Houses , buryed many in the Rubbish , maimed more ; rooted up Trees , and dryed up Rivers , and on it new Springs appeared , the Mountain Casius was so shaken , that its top leaned as if every moment it would fall on the remainders of that wretched City : Here Pedo the Consul was so bruised , that the Contusion prov'd mortal , and the Emperour himself had shared in the same Fate , had he not been drawn out of a Window by an extraordinary piece of Providence ; nor would he ever afterwards reside in the City , but in his Tents in the open Air. And how could Antioch but totter and become a heap of Ruines , that was on the death of this good man robb'd of what propt and secur'd it ? that place is next door to destruction , whose Angel-Guardian is forc'd to a desertion .

XL. In this manner did this excellent Bishop leave the World , and f f Act. Martyr . Ignar . p. 8. his bigger bones , which the wild beasts had not devoured , were by his Followers Philo , Gaius , and Agathopus , that writ the Acts of his Martyrdom , collected and brought to Antioch , and received with much solemnity in every City which they past through , and were buryed in the Coemetery a a Hier. Catal●v . Ign. before the Gate that leads to Daphne , one of the Suburbs of Antioch ; but afterward , under b b Evagr. Hist. l. 1. c. 16. Theodosius junior , were brought in a Chariot with much pomp into the City ( which c c Lib. 14. c. 44. Nicephorus mistook , when he says , they were then first brought from Rome ) and interr'd in a Church dedicated to his memory , which before was the Temple of Fortune , whence they were again transported to Rome , under the Emperour Justinian , as d d Not. in Martyrol . Decem. 17. p. 844. Baronius thinks , when Antioch was sack'd and burnt by Chosroes , King of Persia , or rather as the reverend e e Not. in Martyrol . Ign. p. 50. Vsher proves , circ. an. 640. when that City fell into the hands of the Saracens . And to his memory was an eminent Festival devoted , which Gregory , Patriarch of that See , made more illustrious by much additional Magnificence and Ceremony , and was constantly celebrated till the days of f f Ubi supr. Evagrius . But perhaps Mr. H. would not mention these things , being loth to acknowledge that in those early days the Reliques of Martyrs were reverenced , and the Anniversaries of their Deaths celebrated with Sermons and other Christian Offices ; to both which I 'll speak a few things , that it may serve for a view of the ancient usages in that kind , and vindication of S. Chrysostom , whose Panegyrick I subjoin , in which we find him copious on this subject .

XLI . The Primitive Church did call the days of their Martyrdoms their birth days , ( Natalitia ) hereby testifying , that whereas they were born in sin , but at their dissolution went into Abraham's bosom ; that they believed , that the day of a mans departure is better than the day of his birth ; Eccles. 7.1 . and though they seem'd to be lost to all hopes in the eye of the world , Ps. 116.15 . yet that the death of the righteous is precious in the sight of the Lord . So the Church of Smyrna in their g g P. 28. Edit. Usser . & apud Euseb. lib. 4. c. 15. Gr. 14. Lat. Epistle concerning S. Polycarp's death , to the rest of the Christian Churches ; We , say they , plac'd his bones in a fit Repository , where we meeting together , God will give us ability to solemnize the birth-day of this Martyr , with exultations and rejoycings , that we may both celebrate the memories of former Martyrs , and prepare and incourage others for the future to the same undertakings . So h h Scorpiac . p. 279. E. Edit. Rhenan . Tertullian says of S. Paul , that he was born at Rome , because there martyred ; and after him the name occurs frequently in a a Comment. in Job . lib. 3. Origen , b b Epist. 37. Cyprian , . and c c Tom. 3. Homil. 70. S. Ambrose , but above all in d d Homil. 129. in S. Cyprian . p. 117. Edit. Raynaud . Peter Chrysologus , who gives the reason of the name ; Natalem ergo Sanctorum cum auditis , &c. The birth-day of a Martyr hath its denomination , because the good man is born not a child of this world , but a son of Heaven , rescued from labour and temptations , and introduc'd into the region of rest and quiet , from a state of misery and torments to the delicacies of the superiour Palace , which do not for a while please the senses , and then disappear , but are firm and everlasting . And in this was the care of the Church in those dangerous times exerted , in ordaining Notaries to record the acts of their Martyrs ; and this was all the Ecclesiastical History , till Hegesippus , which they enjoyed . And I am not a little glad , that I find this acknowledged by the learned and modest e e De Re dempt . lib. 1. cap. 13. Thes. 1. p. 304. Eait . Neostad. 1597. Hierome Zanchy , that the primitive Votaries used to meet at the Tombs of the Martyrs on the Anniversaries of their Sufferings , where God wrought many miracles to testifie that those his Servants were in Heaven , and to engage others to the like resolution ; and the Christians paid a veneration to their Reliques . Which reverence f f De Idol . Rom. lib. 1. cap. 9. sect. 1. Dr. Reynolds doth also acknowledge , and allow , and of which I shall more particularly treat , viz. of the honour done to their dead bodies by God and men , by Miracles wrought at their Sepulchres , and veneration paid to their Remains ; although I heartily profess my detestation of the superstitious usages of the Romanists in this point , and their many wheadling impositions on the deluded Laity ; being only willing to adjust a due respect to those Remains of the Primitive Martyrs , but from my soul abhorring their adoration .

XLII . Of Ignatius g g To. 5. p. 504. S. Chrysostom is a sufficient Testimony , how joyfully his bones were received in every City , and how reverently entertained : The h h Epist. ubi supr. p. 28. Church of Smyrna collected the Bones of S. Polycarp , of more value than precious stones , and purer than Gold , and laid them in a place convenient . So the i i ●a● . 6. cap. 29. vide Concil. Gangrens . can . 20. Apostolical Constitutions affirm , that " the Reliques of those who dwell with God are not without their due honour ; it was customary in the days of k k Praepar . Evang. lib. 13 cap. 7. & Hist. lib. 2. c. 25. Eusebius to meet at the Monuments where the sacred Tabernacles of the Apostles and other good men were fixt , there to make their prayers to God , and to honour those blest Souls . Heretofore , says a a Tom. 1. Hom. in Ps. 115. p 319. S. . Basil , the Priests and Nazarites were enjoined not to desile themselves by a dead body , which if any did , he should be unclean , and must wash his cloaths ; but now he that toucheth the bones of a Martyr , receives some holy influences from that grace that is in the body , and b b Ibid. p. 318. for this cause the Reliques of the Saints are honourable : For c c Ambr. To. 3. Scr. 92. de Nazar . & Celso . p. 323. Edit. Costert . why should not the faithful pay respect to that body , which even the Devils reverence ? which they punisht in its tortures , but admire in its Sepulchre . I honour therefore that body which Christ honoured , when it was under the Sword , and which shall reign with him in Heaven . d d Hom. in Theodor. Mart. Gregory Nyssen , e e Adv. Vigdant . & Epist. 53. Hierom , f f Epist. 10● . Augustine , g g De S. Laurent . Prudentius , and others , are full to this purpose , but I omit them ; being content to mention , that h h Vit. Ae●●● . p. 65. Eunapius derides the Christians for honouring the salita capita , the embalmed heads of those men , who were , as he spightfully and falsly objects , put to death for their execrable Villanies , meaning the Martyrs ; and it was one of the methods of cruelty in the i i Theodoret. lib. 3. cap. 6. ●●●lostorg . lib. 7. cap. 4. Nicepl . 10. c. 3 Apostates time , to prostitute the Reliques of the Martyrs . But I will shut up my Quotations on the subject , with the opinion of the Church of the fifth Century , out of k k C. 7. Gennadius de dogmatibus Ecclesiae , " We believe that the Bodies of the Saints , but especially the Reliques of the holy Martyrs , are to be sincerely honour'd as the Members of Christ , and that the Churches called by their Names are to be approached with piety and devotion , as places dedicated to the Worship of God ; and whoso thinks otherwise is no Christian , but a follower of Eunomius and Vigilantius : For why should we stick to honour what God hath honoured by Miracles ? So the l l Quaest. 28. Author of the Questions under the name of Justin Martyr ; " The Bodies of the sacred Martyrs are preservatives against the snares of Satan , and cure Distempers that have baffled Physick . And thus does m m Greg. Naz. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in Julian . p. 36. Edit. Montacut . vid. Chrys. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . To. 6. p. 449. de S. Timothee . the Divine expostulate with Julian . " Dost thou not reverence those that were sacrific'd for Christ ? Dost thou not fear those great Champions ? S. John , S. Peter , and S. Paul , and those that both before and after them were in jeopardy for the truth ? by whom the Daemons are dispossest , and Diseases cured ; who appear in Visions , and foretell futurities ; whose bodies , when reverently toucht , do the same things which holy Souls do ? dost thou not venerate but dishonour those ? And after this manner speak the other Sages of the Church , S. a a Tom. 1. Hom. in S. Julit . p. 370. Basil , and S. b b Cat 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . 18. Cyril of Jerusalem , and to omit S. Ambrose , and S. Hierom , c c I. C. D. l. 25. c. 18. S. Austin gives several instances of these stupendious productions , but I will content my self with that excellent passage of d d L. 1. Ep. 55. Magna & in exiguo sanctorum pulvere virtus . Paulin. natal . 9. S. Faelic . p. 665. Isidore the Pelusiot , " 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. If any man be offended that we honour the Dust of the Bodies of the Martyrs for their great love to God , and admirable constancy in the Faith , let him ask those that have been cured thereby , and understand to how many Diseases it hath brought remedy ; so shalt thou not only not deride what we do , but be encouraged to imitate us . And it is very observable , that generally the Fathers in this case instance in that particular of Elisha , ( 2 Reg. 13.21 . ) into whose Grave the dead man being thrown revived . So do the * * Ubi supr. Apostolick Constitutions , * * Ubi supr. S. Basil , and * * Ubi supr. S. Chrysostom , but particularly e e Catech. 18. S. Cyril of Jerusalem . The dead man , who was thrown into the Tomb of Elisha , when he touch'd the dead body of the Prophet revived , and the dead Body of the Prophet did the Office of a living Soul , and that which had no life gave life to him that was departed , it self yet continuing among the dead : And why so ? lest if Elisha should have risen , it might have been attributed only to his Soul , and to demonstrate , that in the absence of the Soul there is great Virtue in the Bodies of the Saints , because of those Souls that so long inhabited and actuated those Bodies : Nor let us fondly distrust the truth , as if this could not be done , for if handkerchiefs and Aprons , being without the Body , when toucht by the Sick , freed them from their Infirmities , how much more should the Reliques of the Prophet raise the dead ?

XLIII . Of these miraculous Efforts at the Tombs of the Martyrs , the case of S. Babylas is a famous instance , and I mention it the rather , because he was Patriarch of this very See of Antioch , and was buryed in the same place with S. Ignatius in the Daphnaean Suburb , and that the miracle fell out in that Age of the Church when the Truth could not want Historians ; it being recorded by f f Hist. Lib. 10. cap. 35. Ruffinus , g g Lib. 3. cap. 9. 10. Theodoret , h h Lib. 5. cap. 18 , 19. Sozomen , i i Lib. 3. cap. 16. Socrates , and k k Lib. 1. cap. 16. Evagrius , and as to the substance of the Story by the Heathens , m m Orat. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. p. 185. Libanius , n n Histor. lib. 22. Marcellinus , and o o In Misopogon . pag. 96. Julian himself ; but above all by p p Orat. 1. & 2. in S. Babylam . Tom. 5. p. 438 , &c. & Tom. 8. Orat. 8. de Laudib . S. Pauli . p. 44. S. Chrysostom , who was born at Antioch , and at this same time bred a Scholar under Libanius , and but twenty years after the Fact was done relates this story in a set Oration , and calls all persons to witness whether he spake truth or not ; and in his second Oration in praise of this Martyr enervates all the material Passages of his Masters Oration on this subject . Nay , Julian's own Historian , giving the world an account of the very day that it happened , viz. the 22th of October , An. Chr. 362. the Story is thus . a a Baron . Tom. 4. an. 362. p. 4⅘ . & Not. ad Martyrol . Jun. 24. " The Bones of S. Babylas the Martyr were by the order of Gallus , who was by Constantius created Caesar , buryed at Daphne , near the famous Oracle of Apollo ; which Oracle , Julian , before his fatal expedition into Persia , consulting , as he did almost all the Tripods of the World , was told , that Apollo could not give him any Answer , because some persons were buryed near that Temple ; which when Julian heard , he commanded the Christians to remove the Bodies of S. Babylas and his Martyred Companions ; which they did with great Pomp and Ceremony transport into the City , singing the Psalms of David before the Chariot , and interposing this Versicle between every Verse , Confounded be all those that worship Graven Images . Neither did the Oracle after this prove vocal , having only foretold its own Funerals ; but in a small time the Temple was burnt by Fire from Heaven , and the famous Image of Apollo reduc'd to Ashes , only says S. Chrysostom a few Pillars and other Ruines were left standing , as Trophies of the Victory of the Martyr ; and though the burning the Temple was fathered by Julian on the Christians , yet the Priests that kept it , when put on the Rack , would on all sides confess nothing , but that the Fire fell from Heaven . Thus is the story attested on all hands , only I cannot assent to b b ●ol supr● . Evagrius , that not the Servants of Christ , but Julian himself was compelled honourably to Translate the Body from that place , and to erect a Church to his memory before the Gates of the City , which remained to his time , the Apostate designing by this act of Counterfeit Piety , that the silenc'd and baffled Daemon might be set at liberty , while the Divine Providence so ordered it , that the Martyrs Reliques might find a becoming Receptacle . Nor were these wonderful Operations transacted in a Corner , but in the publick view of Mankind , which Miracles whether wrought immediately by God , or by the Ministry of the Glorified Souls of the Martyrs , or the help of Angels , neither durst c c De 〈◊〉 Dei lib. 22. cap. 9. S. Austin , nor dare I pretend to determine .

XLIV . Wonderful was the Zeal of those early days in meeting , and caressing these sacred remains of their slain Brethren with so much joy and satisfaction , as this story and S. Chrysostom's Panegyrick tell us , but above all d d Tom. 2. adv. Vigil . p. 123. S. Hierom , who condemns Vigilantius for being grieved that the Dust of the Martyrs was covered with a fine Vail , and not wrapt up in Hair-cloth , or thrown on a Dung-hill , and adds , — " was the August Constantine guilty of Sacriledge , when he translated the holy Reliques of S. Andrew , S. Luke , and S. Timothy to Constantinople ? — Or is Arcadius , our present Prince , Sacrilegious , who hath after a long time brought the Bones of the Prophet Samuel out of Judaea into Thrace ? Were all the Bishops Fools that enshrin'd those scatter'd Ashes in Silk , and carryed them in a Vessel of Gold ? Were the people of all Countreys besotted , who met these Remains in such multitudes that the Troop reach'd from Palestine to Chalcedon ? So that learned Father .

XLV . Nor are these Ancients , which so earnestly recommend this veneration , but invincibly averse from any adoration of or prayers to these Martyrs . Thus when the Christians of Smyrna were about to collect the Ashes of S. Polycarp , by the instigation of the Jews , the President was inclined to hinder it , lest the Christians deserting their crucified God should worship Polycarp . " The miserable wretches , say a a Polycarp . Martyr . p. 27. those holy men , being ignorant that it could never enter into our minds to forsake Christ , that suffered the torments of the Cross for the salvation of mankind , and bow down to any other as a God ; for we adore him who is truly the Son of God , and we worthily embrace and venerate the Martyrs as his Disciples , and imitators , for their incomparable love to their Master and Prince , with whom we expect to be sharers hereafter in Glory , as here we are Scholars to their Piety . And b b Epist. 53. ad Ripar . To. 2. p. 120. & Chrysost. To. 5. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 984. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Et Aug. de vera relig. cap. 55. non sit religio cultus hominum mortuorum . — honorandi ergo sunt propter imitationem , non adorandi propter religionem , &c. S. Hierome , who is so hot against Vigilantius , yet denies that we adore Angels or Archangels , much less dust and ashes . " But we honour the Reliques of the Martyrs , that we may adore him whose Martyrs they are ; we honour the Servants that their honour may redound to their Master , who says , he that receives you , receives me ; for if the Reliques of Martyrs be not to be honoured , how do we read , that precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints . Thus the Fathers on one hand appropriate to God his due adoration , and on the other preserve the fame of those admirable persons from being sullyed by the endeavours of those that with much rashness contemn them that have been slain for the testimony of Jesus . c c Irenae . ●ib. 3. cap. 20. " For at that time when their blood shall be required , and they made partakers of glory , tum à Christo confundentur omnes , qui inhonoraverunt eorum martyrium , then shall all those be confounded by Christ , that have defamed their sufferings . And of this mind also is a a Exercitat . in Ep. ad Trall . cap. 14. p. 46 , 47. Vedelius at Geneva .

XLVI . Thus we see the Fathers are far from giving any honour peculiar to God to Saints or Martyrs , they living in an age , when the traditional account of those things could not be easily interrupted , or the faith of men imposed upon by fabulous and legendary Relations of Reliques , which have been multiplyed after a prodigious manner by the Church of Rome , to the scandalizing of many sober men of their own Communion . So that could I be ascertained , where the Ashes of S. Ignatius were really deposited , I would respect and reverence them , and kneel down before his Tomb , and remember his courage and love to God , and thank my Saviour for so enabling him , and beg the same or the like assistances , for my self ; but before I should worship his Head that is enshrined in the Jesuits College at Rome , or any of his Bones at Naples , or elsewhere reserv'd , I must be perswaded to desert my present belief and veneration which I have for the sacred Oracles , and the Writings of the ancient Church . I have been so large in this , because I know that the Name Relique hath been a Mormo and Bugbear to affright many conscientious men from entertaining Orthodox Notions , lest they should comply with Popish Opinions . And now I have done with S. Ignatius , when I have told my Reader , that there was another Martyr of this Name in S. Cyprian's time , circ. an. 250. and after him another , circ. an. 860. whose Name is in the Martyrologies among the Confessors ; for he was Patriarch of Constantinople , and honoured with the other Name of this Prelate of Antioch , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Novus , or junior Deifer .

S. Chrysostom 's Panegyrick on the holy Martyr S. Ignatius , who having been carried to Rome , and there martyred , was from thence brought back again to Antioch . Decemb. 20. To. 5. p. 498. &c. Edit. Savil.

‛ THE splendid and magnificent among Feasters make their Treats of many and divers Courses , at the same time testifying the Plenty of their Houses , and the Welcome of their Acquaintance : So the Liberality of the Holy Spirit affording us a Demonstration of its Domestick Power , and Munificence towards Gods Friends , sets before us frequent and various Tables of Martyrs . Lately a very young Girle and unacquainted with Marriage , the blest Martyr Pelagia , entertained you with abundance of delight : To day this holy and generous Martyr Ignatius hath succeeded the Feast of that Virgin : The Persons are diverse , but the Table the same ; their Combats different , but their Crown one ; their Contentions various , but their Trophees the same . For in the Heathen Games , seeing their Exercises concerned the body , only men have admittance ; but here where the soul is in the whole Engagement , the Theatre is open , and the Race set before either Sex : Neither are men alone listed in this service , lest the Female Sex taking refuge in the weakness of their Natures , might seem to have a plausible Apology ; nor do Women only exert their Courage , lest the men should be ashamed , but among both sorts many are called forth to the Combat , and many Crowned , that thou mayest learn by their actions , that a a Gal. 3.28 . in Christ Jesus there is neither Male nor Female ; that neither Sex , nor weakness of body , nor age , nor any other such thing , can hinder those that run the holy Race , if an ingenuous chearfulness , and an exalted will , and an ardent and fiery fear of God be firmly setled in our minds ; for this cause Virgins , Women , and Men , old and young , Servants , and Free-men ; every degree , every Age and Sex strip themselves for these Combats ; nor were they in the least hurt , because they brought with them brave resolutions to undertake these Engagements . This season therefore calls us to a narration of the famous acts of this blessed man ; but my reason is disturbed and full of tumult , not knowing where to begin , what to speak to next , or wherewith to conclude , such a multitude of praises do surround us , and we suffer in the same manner , as he that enters into a * * 〈…〉 . Garden , and sees many a Bed of Roses , and many a Violet , and no less number of Lillies , and other pretty Ornaments of the Spring , various and different in their Shapes and Colours , is troubled about the first that he sees , and then about the second , every thing that he looks on requiring him to fasten his Eyes there : So is it with us that enter into the spiritual Garden of the Archievements of Ignatius , where we see not the fading Flowers of the Spring , but variety of the Fruits of the holy Spirit in this great mans soul , that we are perplext and full of doubtings , not being assur●d to which we should incline our thoughts ; every particular thing which we have seen in this excellent person withdrawing us from the consideration of any other of his Vertues , and using a pleasant violence to the Eyes of the soul , to engage them to look only on its peculiar beauties : For behold he govern'd this Church among us generously , and with the same exactness that Christ requires ; for what that great Bishop of souls made the chiefest Maxime and Canon of Episcopal Regiment , that did he demonstrate in his actions , and hearing Christ say , a a Joh. 11.14 . that the good Shepherd lays down his life for the Sheep , with a great deal of courage he offered his for his Flock ; he truly converst with the Apostles , and by their Ministry was baptized : What an excellent man then must we needs think him to be , who was brought up with them , and lived in their company , and was made a partaker both of their b b 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . common and mystical discourses , and was by them thought worthy of this Government ? Again , the time is at hand that requires fortitude , and a soul that overlooks all present things , burning with the divine love , and preferring things that are not seen , to those that do appear . And with the same ease he divested himself of mortality , as a man puts off his Cloaths . What therefore shall I first treat of ? his proficiency in Learning under the Apostles , which appeared in all his actions ? or his scorn of this present life ? or his exact vertue , with which he managed the Government of his Church ? which shall we first praise , the Martyr , or the Bishop , or the Apostle ? For the holy Spirit 's liberality having wove it in this manner , put on his holy head this triple , or rather this manifold Crown ; for if any one should accurately unfold every one of these Chaplets , he shall find new Coronets budding out to us .

‛ But with your favour we will first enter on the praise of his Episcopal Authority , nor doth this seem only to be one Crown : Let us therefore unfold it in our Discourse , and you shall see two , three , or more arising out of it . For I do not only admire this man , that he was thought worthy of such a Dignity , but that he was ordained to it by those holy persons , and that the hands of the blest Apostles were laid on his sacred head ; this is greatly conducive to his praise , not because more Excellencies did accompany this Grace from above , nor only because they procured a more abundant efficacy of the Spirit to descend on him , but because they bore witness to all those vertues in him , which could be in a man . And how this comes to pass I will describe , S. Paul writing to Titus ( and when I name Paul , I do not only speak of him , but of Peter , and James , and John , and the whole College of Apostles ; for as in a † † 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Lute the Strings are diflerent , but one harmony ; so in this Quire of Apostles , the persons are divers , but the Doctrine the same , because they had the same Master , the holy Spirit , that made the impulse on their souls ; and this S. Paul means , 1 Cor. 15.11 . when he says , Whether it be they or I , so we preach ) this same Apostle therefore writing to Titus , Th. 1.7 . &c. and shewing what manner of person a Bishop ought to be , saith , A Bishop must be blameless , as the Steward of God , not self-willed , not apt to be angry , not given to Wine , no striker , not covetous , but a lover of hospitality , a lover of good things , sober , just , holy , temperate , holding fast the faithful Word , which he hath been taught , that he may be able to exhort others by sound Doctrine , and to reprove Contradictors . And writing to Timothy about the same matter , he thus speaks ; 1 Tim. ● . He that desires a Bishoprick desires a good work ; a Bishop therefore must be blameless , the Husband of Wife , watchful sober , modest , a lover of H● spitality , able to teach . Seest thou what emin●nt Vertues he requireth in a Bishop For as an excellent Painter , tempering divers Colours , being ready to draw the exact Form of a King , sets about his work with all imaginable accuracy , that all persons that would imitate and transcribe it , might have an exact Pattern : So the blessed Paul , as if he were drawing a Prince's Picture , and adorning such an Exemplar , mixing the several Colours of Vertue , hath delineated to us the perfect Characters of Episcopacy , that every one that attains to this honour , looking on this Image , might order all things belonging to himself with the like circumspection . I will therefore speak it boldly , that the blessed Ignatius had accurately imprinted all this Vertue on his Soul , being innocent and blameless , neither morose , nor angry , nor a Drunkard , nor a Quarreller , but without any love of Contention , or love of Money , being just , holy , temperate , and holding fast the faithful word of Doctrine ; being watchful , sober and modest , and Master of all the other Vertues that S. Paul requires . And what proof of this say some ? the same persons that spoke these things ordained him ; nor could those that with so much exactness advise others to make tryal of them that should ascend to the Episcopal Throne , themselves perfunctorily do this act ; for unless they had seen all these Vertues planted in the Soul of this Martyr , they would never have ordain'd him to the managery of this Dignity ; for they certainly knew what danger threatned those that made such Ordinations slightly , and as it might happen . And this also doth the same S. Paul again show , writing to the same Timothy , bidding him , a a 1 Tim. 6.32 . Lay hands suddenly on no man , nor partake of other mens sins . What sayest thou ? Hath another man sinned , and do I partake of his Crime and his Punishments ? Yes truly , he that adds Authority to Wickedness , even as when one puts a Sword into the hands of a Mad-man , whatsoever Murder the Frantick person shall do , he that gave the Sword shall answer the Crime : So if any should confer the Power that ariseth from this Dignity , on a man that lives wickedly , he pulls down all the Fire of his wicked and bold undertakings on his own head ; for he that gives the root , is without doubt the cause of all things that spring from it . Dost thou see how this double Crown of his Episcopacy hath hitherto appeared , and that the eminency of those that ordain'd him hath added lustre to his dignity , while * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . they bear witness to the Universality of his Vertues ? Will you that I shall unfold another Crown to you , that buds from this ? Let us reflect on the time when he was admitted to this sublime place ; for it is not the same thing to govern the Church now , and then ; as it is not an equal undertaking to journey in a beaten way , and such as hath been well trod by abundance of Travellers , and now at first : open a new Path , and make that passab●● that is full of Pits and Rocks , and pestered with wild Beasts , and that never before entertain'd a Traveller . For now by the Grace of God no peril threatens the Bishops , but every where there is a profound Peace , and we all enjoy serenity , the word of Godliness being made known to the ends of the World , and our Governours preserving the Faith with diligence ; but then there were none of these things , but which way soever a man did look , there were Precipices , and Gulphs , and Wars , and Quarrels , and Dangers ; Rulers and Kings , People , and Cities , and Nations , their acquaintance , and strangers , all took counsel against the Christians ; nor was this only then terrible , but much more so , because many of the Believers ( as those that in this Age first entertain new Doctrines ) stood in need of abundance of condescension , for they were yet weak and very often supplanted ; and this was that which did no less , yea much more grieve their Teachers , than all their Heathen Adversaries Assaults . For the Consultations and Persecutions of * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . the Heathens afforded them abundance of pleasure , upon the account of the hope of the rewards laid up for them : for this reason the a a Act. 5.41 . Apostles returned from the Council rejoycing that they were beaten ; and S. Paul proclaims it with a loud Voice , saying , b b Col. 1.24 . I rejoyce in my sufferings , and he every where boasts of his Afflictions ; but the Wounds of those of the Family , and the failings of their Bre●●●en , would not suffer them so much as to breathe , but as one that is burthened with a * * F 〈◊〉 . Via . Boisii Not●in Loc. massy Chain , this sate heavy on the nock of their Souls , and distracted them continually . Hear therefore how S. Paul , that so glorieth in his Afflictions , how bitterly he grieves and is macerated by reason of those Domestick Offenders ? c c 2 Cor. 11.29 . Who is there weak and I am not weak ? Who is there scandaliz'd , and I burn not ? and again , d d C. 12.20 . I am afraid , lest when I come , I shall not find you such as I would , and shall be found of you such as ye would not ; and after a few words , lest God should humble me when I come again unto you , and that I shall mourn over many , which have heretofore sinned , and have not repented of their uncleanness , and lasciviousness , and wickedness which they have done ; and every whe●● thou seest him in Tears , and full of Lamentations * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . for the Houshold of Faith , and fearful , and trembling always upon the account of Believers . For as we admire a Pilot , not that he can preserve the Passengers in a calm Sea , when the Ship is driven by a fair wind , but if he can steer the Vessel with all manner of security when the Sea rages , and the Waves swell , and the Passengers are mutinous , and a great Tempest assaults them within and without : So might we think it just , that those that then were ordained over the Church , should be amazed and astonished much more than those that now govern it , because that they met with great oppositions within and without , and the Plant of Faith was then more tender , and needed more care . Because as a new-born-Babe , * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Laity . the major part of the Church , wanted abundance of Providential managery , and some extraordinary wise person to nurse it . And that you may the more plainly learn of what Crowns they were worthy , to whom the Church then was intrusted , and what labour and danger it was to undertake such a work in its Beginnings and Infancy , and first to enter on such an employ I will produce to you the Testimony of Christ that confirms these things , and establisheth this Maxim of ours ; for seeing many persons coming unto him , and being willing to convince his Apostles that the Prophets had laboured more than they , he saith , a a Joh. 4.38 . other men have laboured , and ye have entered upon their labours ; certainly the Apostles laboured more than the Prophets , but because they were the first that sowed the word of Piety , and attracted the Souls of men , yet rude , to the embraces of the Truth , he gives them this Testimony of taking more pains ; for certainly it is not , it cannot be the same thing to come after other Teachers , and to instruct , as first of all himself to sow the Seeds ; for that which is already meditated on , and is made customary , doth easily become plausible ; but that which is first heard of disturbs the intellect of the Hearers , and creates much business to the Instructors . For this even at Athens puzzled the Auditory , and for t●●● reason they disdain'd S. Paul , crying out 〈◊〉 saying , a a Act. 20. Thou bringest strange things 〈◊〉 our hearing : for if even now the Government of the Church doth create great trou●●● and care to those that do manage it , consider how the labour was twice as much , treble , yea abundantly more , when dangers and contentions , and lyings in wait , and fear were their daily entertainments . We cannot , we are not able to express the difficulties , which the Saints of that Age underwent , he only knows them that hath past through them .

‛ I will also speak of the fourth Crown , arising from his Office , and what is that ? the oversight of this Country of ours : It is a trouble to command 150 men only , but to be appointed over such a City , and 200000 people in it , of what Vertue and Wisdom must you suppose this to be a demonstration ! For as in a Camp , the most experienced Captains are preferred to the command of the Royal Guards , and the fullest Troops : So is it also in Cities , the most experienced of Governours are also intrusted with the greatest and most populous . Moreover great was Gods care of this City , as appears by this Fact , for he commanded Peter * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . the Oecumenical Apostle , to whom he intrusted the Keys of Heaven , whom he permitted to order all things , to spend a long time here ; so that our City was to him instead of the whole World : And since I remembred Peter , I see a fifth Crown hence made up ; for Ignatius is he , that after him succeeded to this Government : for as when a man fits a great stone for a Foundation , he is careful to suit it with another like it , unless he intends to shake the Building , and make it infirm ; so when Peter was about to go hence , the Spirit introduced another Teacher equivalent to him , lest the Edifice that was begun should be impaired by the simpleness of his Successor . We have now reckoned five Crowns , from the Grandeur of his Imployment , from the Eminency of his Ordainers , from the dangerousness of the time , from the largeness of the City , and from the vertue of him that resigned the Bishoprick to him . After we have made up all these , we might add a sixth , and a seventh , and more Crowns . But that we may not spend all our time in this one discourse of his Episcopal Office , we will now make a Panegyrick on the Martyr , and spend the rest on his Combat .

'A dangerous Persecution was stirred up against the Church , and as if a cruel Tyranny had possest the Earth , all persons were snatcht from the middle of the Market-place , being accused of nothing that was absurd , but that abandoning their Errours they pursued after Godliness , that they deserted the Worship of Devils , and acknowledged the true God , and adored his only begotten Son , and for what things they ought to have been Crowned , and admired , and honoured , for those things were all that received the Faith punished , and worn out with a thousand miseries , but above all , the Bishops of the Churches ; for the Devil being crafty and cruel to contrive such mis●●●ievous designs , hoped that if he could remove the Shepherds , he should easily be able to scatter the Flocks ; but he that catcheth the wise in their own craft , intending to convince him , that men do not govern his Churches , but himself every where rules Believers , permitted this to be done , that when these persons were taken away , Satan might see , that the Interests of Piety were not lessened , nor the word of the Gospel quench'd , but more increas'd and advane'd ; and that he and all his Assistants might learn by these Actions , that our Concerns are not Humane , but that our Doctrine hath its Root above from Heaven ; and that it is God that every where governs his Churches ; and where he engages , it never happens that he is overcome : Nor did the Devil only contrive this mischief , but another no less terrible than this , for he not only promoted the slaughter of the Bishops in those Cities , over which they presided , but hurrying them in 〈◊〉 strange places , there cut them off ; and he did this , at once endeavouring to deprive them of all necessaries , and withal hoping to wear them out , and make them weak by the toyl of their Journeys ; and thus he dealt with this blest person , for he call'd him from this our City unto Rome , * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . fitting him a Course to run forward and backward , expecting by the length of the way , and the time spent in it to prostitute and subdue his resolution , not knowing that having Jesus a Companion and Fellow-Wanderer in his Travel , he would grow more vigorous , and give a more plentiful demonstration of his strength received from him , and more and more diligently instruct the Churches : For the Cities that lay in the way running to meet him , strengthened this Champion , and sent him away with a large Viaticum , helping him by their prayers and † † 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . messages ; nor did they receive ordinary Confirmation , seeing this Martyr court his death with the chearfulness that became him that was called to the participation of a Coelestial Kingdom ; and they learn'd by his Actions and his readiness and alacrity , that it was not Death to which he made haste , but a Pilgrimage and a change of State , and an Ascension into Heaven ; and Teaching these things in every City , both by his discourses and example , he departed ; and as it happened to the Jews , when binding Paul and sending him to Rome , they thought they had sent him to his Death , while they sent him an Instructor to their Country-men that dwelt there : The same thing happened to Ignatius with some advantage , for he departed from us a wonderful Teacher , not only to them that dwelt at Rome , but to all the Cities that lay in the way , perswading to despise this present life , and not to reck . on of the things that are seen , but to love futurities , to look up unto Heaven , and not to be disheartned at any of the sadnesses that happen on this side the Grave ; these and many other such things he taught them by his demeanor as he travelled , as it were a Sun arising from the East , and running towards the West , or rather something more beautiful , for the Sun runs his race above , shedding a sensible light ; but Ignatius out-shone him below , communicating the intellectual light of Learning to Souls : the Sun as he draws toward the West is hid , and speedily gives place to night ; but Ignatius departing towards the West shone there more brightly , and did good in a higher measure to all persons that he met ; for into whatsoever City he came , he taught that City * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . to become Christian : and for this reason God ordered , that there his life should terminate , that the end of such a great man might become † † 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . a Lecture of Piety to all that dwelt at Rome ; for you by the Grace of God did not want any further conviction , being rooted in Faith ; but the Romans by reason of the notorious Impiety that was there , needed some greater help : for this reason both Peter and Paul , and with them our Martyr , were all sacrificed there , that by their Blood they might purge that City , that was polluted with the Blood shed to Idols , and withal that they might by their Actions give a Publick demonstration of the Resurrection of the crucified Christ ; perswading the Inhabitants of that great City , that it was impossible they should with so much satisfaction despise this present life , were they not fully perswaded , that they should afterward ascend to the crucified Jesus , and see him in Heaven ; for this is the greatest proof o● the Resurrection , that Christ being slain should after his death show forth so much Power , as to perswade living men to postpone Country , and House , and Friends , and Relations , and Life it self to the Confession of him , and greedily to chuse Scourges , and Dangers , and Death it self , before these present voluptuous enjoyments ; these were the Atchievements , not of a dead man , nor of a person consin'd to his Grave , but of one that is risen from the dead and lives ; † † 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . for is it not very strange , that while he was alive all his Apostles that convers'd with him , having their Courage impaired by their Fear , betrayed their Master , and flying , deserted him ; but as soon as he was dead , that then not only Peter and Paul , but even Ignatius that never saw him , nor ever was Partaker of the Charms of his Conversation , should be endowed with so much constancy as to offer up his life for him ? that the Inhabitants of Rome , might learn perfectly all these things , God conceded that there this holy man should end his daies . And that this was the reason , I will evince from the manner of his Death , for he was not executed without the Walls in a Cave , or the Prison , or in a Corner , but in the midst of the Theatre , the whole City sitting and looking down upon him , he underwent his Martyrdom , the wild Beasts being let out upon him , that in the sight of all men , erecting a Trophee against the Devil , he might make all the Spectators ardently in love with his Combats , while ●e did not only dye with much Generosity and Courage , but with much Complaisance and Delight ; not as one † † 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . that must be driven out of this life , but as one that was invited to a better and more spiritual life , so willingly did he behold the Beasts : And whence is this manifest ? from the Words which dying he spake ; for when he heard that this sort of Punishment was appointed him , he said , Oh that I could enjoy those Beasts ; for they which love as he did , whatsoever they suffer for those whom they love , they undergo it with pleasure ; neither do they seem to have their desires satisfied , but when the undertaking becomes more difficult ; so therefore did it fall out with this holy man , for he made haste to imitate the Apostles , not only in their Death , but in their readiness ; and hearing that when they were beaten , they went about with joy , he would emulate his Masters , not only in their end , but in their joy too ; for this reason did he say of the Beasts , † † 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . I long for them , and thought that the Mouths of such Creatures were more gentle than the Tongue of the Tyrant ; and with much reason ; for the Tongue of the Tyrant called him to Hell ; but the mouths of the wild Beasts carried him to an ( Heavenly ) Kingdom . After that therefore he there ended his life , or rather went thence unto Heaven , he return'd to us a Crowned Champion . For this also was an Act of the Divine Providence , to bring him back again to us , and to distribute the Martyr among the Cities . Rome received his Blood when it was shed , and you are honoured with his Reliques ; you enjoyed his Episcopal Care , and they his Martyrdom : They saw him striving , and overcoming , and crowned ; and you have him with you continually . God separated him from you for a little while , and hath again be stowed him on you with greater honour ; and as Borrowers pay back what they have received with Interest , so God , making use of this Honourable Treasure for a while at a distance from you , and exhibiting him to that other City ( Rome ) hath again restored him to you with greater pomp . For ye sent him forth a Bishop , but ye receive him a Martyr ; ye sent him forth with Prayers , but ye receive him with Crowns ; and not you only , but all the Cities that lye betwixt Antioch and Rome ; for how were they affected , do you imagine , when they saw the Reliques carryed by ; what genuine pleasures did over-flow their Souls ; how did they rejoyce , and with what Congratulations every where meet this Conquerour ! For as a generous Wrestler , having thrown all his Antagonists , goes off the Stage with much splendour and applause , and is triumphantly received by the Spectators , who suffer him not to tread on the ground , but aloft on their Shoulders carry him home , filling the Air with a thousand Encomia of his Atchievements ; so did all the Cities from the Metropolis of the Empire to this place entertain this holy man ; and carrying him on their Shoulders , transported him to this City , making Panegyricks on the Conquerour , praising the Combatant , and langhing at the Devil , because his Sophistry was turn'd to his own disadvantage ; and the same thing befell him which he thought to have done to our Martyr . In that time of his Translation he brought help and instruction to all those places ; and since then unto this present hath enrich'd your City : And as a lasting Treasure , drawn out every day and yet never spent , makes all that have recourse to it more happy and rich : ●o doth our blest Ignatius send home all that come to him , filling them with Eulogies , with boldness , with strong resolutions , and much courage . We do not only therefore go to him to day , but every day ; gathering from him spiritual fruits : for certainly he that comes hither by Faith , shall infallibly reap signal benefit ; for not only the bodies but the Sepulchres of the Saints are filled with spiritual Graces ; for if this happened to Elisha , that when a dead man touch'd his Bones , the bonds of death were loosed , and the man again entered on the enjoyments of life ; how much rather now , when the Grace is more copious , and the Essicacy of the Spirit greater , may that man which toucheth this Depository with Faith , draw thence abundance of strength ? For , for this reason hath God permitted us the Reliques of Saints , being willing to induce us to the same Zeal with them , and to afford us a certain Harbour and secure help against all the Evils that every day surround us . Wherefore I beseech you all , if any man be weak or under any Distemper , if any man be grieved , or under any other necessitous Circumstances that concern this life , or troubled at the weight of his Transgressions , let him come hither with Faith , and put off all these Incumbrances , and he shall return with much satisfaction , having disburthen'd his Conscience at this very sight only ; but in an higher measure is it peculiarly necessary that those who are exempted from such miseries should come hither : Is any Man's mind full of Serenity ; is he honourable , powerful , and full of a holy confidence in God ? Neither let him slight this advantage ; for coming hither , and beholding this holy man , his good things shall dwell constantly with him , if he be perswaded to take an account of the State of his own Soul , by comparing it with the brave Atchievements of this excellent person , and suffer not his mind to be transported with Pride at the remembrance of his performing of his Duty : For it is no small matter , for Men in Prosperity , not to be puffed up with the remembrance of their serene Days , and happy Enjoyments , but to understand how to bear moderately their successes : so that this Treasure is useful , this place of refuge fit for all persons ; to those that are troubled , that they may be delivered from their Temptations ; to those that are happy , that they may be confirmed in their state of felicity ; to those that are sick , that they may recover their health ; and to those that are well , that they may not relapse . All which things having spoken , let us set the greater value on this acquaintance full of pleasure , full of delight , that here we rejoicing and trading for Heaven together , may be able there to dwell in the same Tabernacle with these Saints , and be their Fellow-commoners in Glory , by the assistance of their Prayers , through the Mercy and Compassion of Jesus Christ , to whom be Honour , with the Father and Holy Spirit , now and for ever , Amen .

THE LIFE OF S. Justin THE MARTYR .

I. AMong the Notices which Mr. H. furnisheth us with of this Reverend Philosopher and Martyr , he begins , §. 1. p. 22. as the Laws of History require , with his Birth and Descent , and tells us from his own a a Apolog. 2. p. 53. Apology , That he was born at Sichem or Neapolis , as the Romans called it , in the Province of Samaria , and was the Son of Priscus Bacchius . For the place of his Nati●ity I am of the same mind , but for his Father's Name , must profess my dissent , believing with b b Apud Dr. Cove 's Life of S. Justin . Sect. 14. Sylburgius , c c Apud Dr. Cove 's Life of S. Justin . Sect. 14. Valesius , and the Learned d d Apud Dr. Cove 's Life of S. Justin . Sect. 14. Dr. Cave , that Priscus was his Father , and Bacchius his Grand-father ; for whereas this very Martyr , in the Preface to his Apology , ( and out of it Eusc●ius ) calls himself Justin , the Son ( 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) of Priscus , the Son of Bacchius , who were of Flavia Neapolis , a City of Syria Palestine , there is a plain distinction made between Priscus and Bacchius , the plural Article ( 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) implying them to have been two different persons ; though I must acknowledge , that the words have been so mistook by c c ●●●al . v. just . M. S. Jerome and his Translator Sophronius , and the learned d d Cod. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ● . 163. Photius , to omit Joseph Scaliger , and Christopherson , in his Translation of Eusebius , and other Moderns ; and the reason of so many learned mens falling into the same Errour , looks so lovely in the words of our Martyr , concerning the old Philosophers , that I cannot but subjoin them . d d Just. in . Dial. c●m●●●●●en . It was the good hap of those that first fortunately fall on the discovery of this sort of learning , and thereby grew famous , that all that succeeded them thought it enough to walk in their steps , never being sollicitous whether they were the Paths of Truth , only admiring their great courage and temperance , and strange Notions , and thinking every Sentence Oracle that dropt from the mouth of such an Instructor . We must therefore take care when we hear e e Th●●●vid . Scalig in Ens●● . 〈◊〉 M. ● . CLVII , p. 201. S. Justin calling the Sam●ritans his Country-men , that we think him not a Samuritan either by Blood or Religion , but only that he was of one of those Colonies , wherein were intermix'd both Jews and Gentiles , and both under the name of Samaritans ; Fellow-Citizens they were of his , but no nearer a-kin . It was therefore an Errour of Epiphanius to say , That he w●● converted from being a Samaritan to the Christian Faith ; for it appears by his own account of his Conversion , that he was not circumcised , nor a Proselyte to the Mosaick Constitutions , as the Samaritans were , but one that sought Truth , not in the Schools of the Prophets , but the Philosophers ; and perchance this may be a reason of his ignorance in the Hebrew Tongue , which afterward discovered it self in his Derivations of Pascha and Satanas , &c. and his constant using the Translation of the Seventy ; but such Errours in Etymology are too mean to impair the Reputation of so venerable an Ancient , who was , as a a Apud Phot. Cod. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 488. Methodius styles him , a Man not much junior to the Apostles , either in Age or Excellencies .

II. Mr. H. next proceeds to an account of the means that were instrumental to his conversion ; and though I could well like the menage of such a Story , and be glad that it had been promoted by the intervention of an Angel ; yet I cannot assent that the old man spoken of was of the number of those blest Spirits , and the Philosopher's better Genius , since he is described by S. Justin himself as an aged person only , though unknown , who met him while he was walking in a melancholy mood by the Sea side ; and after he had given him his advice , departed from him immediately , not vanisht , as Mr. H. affirms . So that I am apt to think him one of the holy Confessors of that age , who either for his greater privacy in his Contemplations , or for fear of the last efforts of Adrian's Persecution , that then was not fully ceast , or by the direction of an Angel , as Philip was sent to the Eunuch , came thither to promote the making this sage man a Christian . For as to the argument from the case of S. Austin , that was not done by a Vision , but a Voice only : such as the Greek b b Aug. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. Menaeon tells us befell Titus at Crete ; Titus , thou must rescue thy soul from this place , and wander into some other Country , for this sort of Learning that thou now followest will not profit thee . And I think our Author is the first man that makes this an extraordinary Vision ; for there are c c Apud Dr. Cave ubi supr. sect. 2. p. 141 , 142. those that stick not to say , that this was only a Philosophick and imaginary Drama , after the method of Socrates , and the succeeding School of Plato , who discourst by way of Dialogue , not that there was any such thing really done , but that he might the better entertain Trypho with the manner of his being made a Christian . But I rather incline to the first opinion , which abating this mistake , is pertinently applyed by Mr. H. to the subject in hand ; and so is what succeeds till Sect. 2. p. 27. where he tells us , that S. Justin , and Aristides , and Quadratus tendred their Apologies about the same time to the Emperour Adrian ; whereas it is as clear as what is writ with a Sun-beam , that whereas the Vindications of Christianity , managed with so much learning and zeal by Quadratus and Aristides , were presented to the Emperour Adrian circ. an. 123. and about the sixth or seventh year of his Reign , that a a Euseb. lib. 4. 〈◊〉 8. Justin was a Heathen long after , till the time of the Consecration of Antinous , which was not till circ. an. 132. and that his first Apology was writ long after that , and dedicated not to Adrian , but his Successor Antoninus Pius ( and this also Mr. H. having forgotten his former Assertion , affirms p. 28. and 31. ) and I am apt to think that the Errour arose from a cursory and inconsiderate view of the Title of that Apology , where the Name Aelius Adrianus is added to that of Antoninus Pius ; for thus it runs ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. To the Emperour Titus Aelius Adrianus Antoninus Pius Caesar Augustus , &c. In which , as was usual , the present Emperour annext the name of his great Patron , who had adopted him , to his own , as an additional honour to his many other Titles : And we may think that the same haste made b b Contr. Tatian . haer. 46. p. 171. Epiphanius affirm , that Justin suffered his Martyrdom under Adrian , whereas it is on all hands conceded , that he dyed for the Testimony of Jesus under M. Aurelius Antoninus Philosophus , and Lucius Aelius Verus .

III. From this we pass to Sect. 3. where the number of the Martyrs Books are reckoned , what are genuine , what spurious , what extant , what not ; and p. 29. we are told , that his two Volumes against the Gentiles , which are mentioned by Eusebius , S. Hierome , and others , are lost ; whereas they are certainly the same with his Paraenesis ad Graecos , and Oratio ad Graecos ( sive Elenchus ) which are p. 30. acknowledged to be extant . His ●mment on Genesis in the Centurists , is no 〈…〉 than the Comment on the Hexameron ●●entioned by Anasasius Sinatia ; his Comment on the Apocalypse , no other than an Explanation of the Chiliast Opinion according to the Scheme of that Apostle's Prophetick Vision , ( or if a distinct Book , I suppose it to have been the Tractate de Resurrectione Carnis , mentioned by Damascene ) of which sort of make was the Comment on the Revelation , which c c Biblioth. lib. 4. Sixtus Senensis says was writ by Irenaeus ; and in truth ( whatever Mr. H. p. 61. say to the contrary ) they are both joined by d d Catal. v. Johannes . S. Hierome ; for I think it will be hard to prove a Commentator on Scripture ancienter than Origen , or on that part of it than Aretas ; the Book it self of the Revelation in S. Justin's time being hardly allowed a place in the Canon , and the Question not decided who was its Author , whether S. John the Apostle , or another John an Asian Presbyter , buried also at Ephesus in a distinct Tomb from the Evangelist . In the same page he reckons a Comment of this Martyr on Dionysius the Areopagite his Eccles. Hierarch . out of Possevines Apparatus , and that among the number of his genuine Tractates not extant ; but I cannot but wonder , that he allows that counterfeit to be so ancient , as here to make him older than Justin Martyr , and p. 94. than Clemens of Alexandria , asserting after another Jesuite ( Halloix ) that Clemens writing obscurely imitated Dionysius of Athens ; whereas all sober Writers , that give the spurious S. Dennis the greatest Antiquity , make him not elder than the fourth Century , and generally agree that the 〈◊〉 Father was Apollinaris ; so Laurentius Valla● Sirmondus , Petavius , Launoy , &c. among the Romanists , and Gerh. Vossius , Vsher , and Casaubon among the Protestants , especially a a 〈◊〉 pist. ●● part. 1. c. 10. Bishop Pearson , Dr. b b Answ. to Cressy's Apolog. chap. 2. Sect. 17. &c. Stillingfleet , and c c Life of S. Dennis Sect. 13 , 14 , &c. p. 73 , 74 , &c. Dr. Cave , to omit Dailleé , that hath undertook the task of set purpose . P. 34. he accounts the Book De Monarchia , now extant , not genuine , because it differs in the Title from his Tract de Monarchia Dei , mention'd by the Ancients ; but there are greater Differences than this in the Titles of Books among the Fathers ; and for his Argument , that he promises in that Book to fetch Testimonies from the Scriptures and Heathen Aut●ors ; it is to me manifest , That the Book is imperfect , and by that means not able to speak for its self . His Treatise entituled , Eversio quorundam Aristotelicorum dogmatum , is allowed to be genuine by that excellent Judge of Antiquity d d Cod. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 162. Photius ( under this Title , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ) which he calls , Disputations full of rational Arguings , Vehemency , and freedom , and is not that other Book which he there mentions ( 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) the same with his Questiones ad Orthodoxos ? and if so , the Book hath fallen into foul hands that have foisted in many passages ; it being apparent , that the Book , as now it is written , hath not a few places in it , that relate to the Arian Heresie and matters of the third Saeculum , and by that Interpolator is it , that Irenaeus and Origen are there quoted , which could not have been done by the Author , who was Martyred above forty years before Irenaeus's Death , and above twenty before Origen was born ; herein therefore I assent to Mr. H. but must profess my dissent from his Deduction . p. 38. that therefore the Doctrine of the lawful use of the Cross , of the Virgin Mary's being without Sin , keeping Reliques , that Baptism is necessary to Salvation , &c. are unsound and Popish ; which Doctrines we will severally and a-part consider .

IV. The Opinion of the Virgin Mary's being without sin we explode , as a Novelty unknown to the purer Antiquity ; her being free from Actual Transgression was first talk'd of doubtingly by a a De natur . & grat . c. 36. S. Austin ; but that she was untainted with Original Sin hath been the late Dream of the Franciscans , and since of the Jesuites ; and that the Fathers universally thought otherwise , 〈◊〉 may see their Sentiments quoted by b b Respons. ad Albert. Pium. Erasmus and c c Loc. Theol. l. 7. c. 1. p. 348. &c. Melchior Canus , and I find d d In Rom. 5. disput. 51. p. 468. Salmeron himself confessing , that some men quote two hundred , some three hundred Fathers against this Opinion of the immaculate Conception .

V. The lawfulness of keeping and honouring Reliques we have already made good ; the worshipping of them , we , with the Primitive Church , disown : As to Religious Vows , whatever some great men since the Reformation , in opposition to the Romish Church , may have opin'd , he that knows that the Orders of Hermites and Anchorites were an institution of the third Century , and that the Fathers frequently distinguish'd between Precepts Evangelical ( to which all men a●● bound ) and Counsels Evangelical , Vide Mon●●● . Appel . Cas●● cap. 15 , 15 , 17. or Perfections to which only those are obliged that will more strictly testifie their Devotion , Self-denyal , and Mortification , cannot doubt of their allowance of making new engagements beside the General Vow in Baptism , a Practice in truth customary among Men of all Religions , Christian , Jewish , Mahometan , or Heathen , and I would willingly learn why it should not be as lawful to vow under the New as the Old Testament , in things not commanded , as well as in what is enjoyned ? since Vows are no part of the Divine Service , but the manner only of performing it ; especially while the ancient and holy Christians understand the Widdows casting off her first Faith , of the breaking her Vow , 1 Tim. 5.12 . that dedicated her Widdowhood to God ; and why it should be lawful to make Vows about Fasting , Prayers , and Alms , which e e Case of Cons. l. 2. c. 14. Mr. Perkins allows , and not in other matters , I profess , I cannot understand .

VI. That Baptism is necessary to Salvation we assert , as a Catholick and Orthodox Position , and what is impregnably founded on that Doctrine of our Saviour , John 3.5 . Except a man be born of Water and the Holy Chost , he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven , notwithstanding the little Arts of some late Aggressors to overthrow it ; for if all Sin unexpiated makes obnoxious to Damnation , then Children are so lyable by reason of their Original Transgression brought into the World with them , unless they be allowed

Laver of Regeneration , that they may be ●anctifyed and cleans'd by the washing of Water by the Word ( the Word sanctifying the Water , and the Water purging the Criminal ) not by putting away the filth of the flesh , i. any Bodily Pollutions , but of the Spirit , by the answer of a good Conscience towards God , ( relating to the Apostolical Custom of Interrogatories in Baptism and hereby are they wash'd and sanctify'd . This is the Doctrine of the Church of England , declared in the end of the Office for Publick Baptism , That it is certain by Gods Word , that Children which are Baptized , dying before they commit Actual Sin , are undoubtedly saved . Nor will I trouble my self any farther in this , when I have subjoyn'd the Testimony of a Father or two to this purpose . For the Greek Church a a Contr. Arian . Tom. 1. p. 147. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . vide Nyssen . Orat. in eos , qui differunt Baptisma . Tom. 1. p. 958. & Chrys. Tom. 4. Homil. 3. in Ep. ad Philip . p. 20. S. Athanasius , whom Mr. H. justly reverences , who calls Baptism that sanctifying and enlivening Purgation , that brings Remission of sins , and without which no man shall see the Kingdom of Heaven ; and b b Tom. 1. Orat. de S. Baptis . p. 65 ⅔ . Gregory Nazianzen blames those that believe , that at their death their desire of Baptism shall be accepted , That it is a R●ddle never to be resolv'd , that a man that dyes unbaptiz'd shall for his intentions he accepted by God , as if he were baptized , or that he , that is without its confines , shall be transported into Heaven by a few barren wishes only , without passing through the requisite preparations for that Kingdom ; for if the desire of B●ptism can confer the effica●● of that Ordinance on thee , the desire of Heaven shall be all thy happiness , both preparation and reward imaginary . This c c H●● 3. in La Origen handsomely in his Allegorical way deduces from the variety of Genealogies , which the two Evangelists allow our Saviour , for S. Matthew deriving his Line from the time of his Natural Birth , not only terminates his Catalogue in Abraham , but reckons into the number of his Progenitors Tamar , Rahab , Bathsheba , and other Sinners ; whereas S. Luke recording his Pedigree from his Baptism , makes him at first rise to be the Son of God : and does not Mr. H. himself say as much . p. 43. out of this very Father , That through Baptism we obtain Remission of the Sins we had before committed . For the Latine Church I would quote S. Austin , but that it is palpably known , that only on the account of this Belief a a Lib. 3. de Orig. animae , & l. 1. de peccatmerit . & remis . c. 15. &c. he damns all Infants unbaptiz'd , and assures us , b b Ibid. c. 24. that the Christians about Carthage used to call Baptism , Salvation ; and the Eucharist , Life : Nor is there any difference farther than words between us and the Romanists in this point says the Learned c c Apud Dr. Featley's Dipper dipt . p. 10. Dr. Reynolds in his Lectures de Censura Apocryphorum ; not but that it is in the power of God to save without means , but that there is no way in our power to come to Salvation without them .

VII . The use of Chrism is on all hands acknowledged to be very ancient , and to have been used in Baptism , Confirmation , anointing the Sick , and many other Ecclesiastical Offices ; and had the Church thought fit to ●etain it still , I suppose no peaceable man would have disgusted it ; d d Of ●●onfir●●●g . 21. Mr. H. in another place allowing it to be as ancient as Tertullian , ( and what he calls an ancient Custom , as e e De coron. milit. cap. 3. vide Apolog. cap. 3. Christianus quantum interpretatio est , de unctione deducitur . Theophilus Antiochen . ad Autolyc . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . he does Chrism , can be little less than Apostolical ) and that Cyril of Jerusalem says , We are thence called Christians , and he might have named long before him , and Tertullian too , Theophilus Antiochenus . — As to the Ceremonies of the Mass ( which word anciently signifyed no more than the Church Liturgy ) being mentioned only in General , and we being ignorant whether reflecting only on the Innovations of the Roman Church , or the Primitive usages of the Church of England , we say nothing in their Vindication ; the Doctrine of Free-will we shall consider hereafter ; that Confirmation is a Sacrament we deny , take it in the strict sense of the word , as it signifies holy Rituals ordain'd by Christ , as generally necessary to Salvation ; though in a larger sense both Confirmation and several minuter observances of Christianity were by the Fathers called Sacraments , or rather Sacramentals .

VIII . I have considered all his unsound Doctrines , as he calls them , that are found in these Questions , except the first , viz. Vide Spalatens . lib. 7. cap. 12. ●ct . 86. &c. the use of the Cross ; in which if I am a little larger , I shall beg my Readers pardon . This Mr. H. p. 14. derides , as having no power to terrifie the Devil ; and p. 38. reckons a-among the Popish and unsound Doctrines ; the use whereof Parker in his Treatise of the Cross accuses , not only as a sin against the second Commandment , but against the other nine too ; and hath entituled his several Chapters of the Swearing , Sabbath breaking , Murther , Adultery , Stealing , False-witness , and at last of the Concupiscence of the Cross , as well as of the Idolatry of it . For whatever this last and imaginarily wisest Age of the World is apt to acknowledge , in those days , when the Blood of a dying Saviour was yet warm , and the Testimonies of Heavens Love fresh in Mens Remembrances , the Christians of that time put an estimate on whatever had but a remote Relation to Jesus , but a peculiar value on the Instrument of his Sorrows , and the Worlds Happiness : Hence they used to sign themselves with the sign of the Cross before whatsoever undertakings . a a Tert. de Coron. c● . Cyral . Catec . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Orig. l. 3. in Job . fol. 36. Ed. Merlin . Naz. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 47. & Orat. 19. p. 306. They went no where abroad , or ever came home ; they never put on their Cloaths or wash'd ; they neither did eat , or drink , or sleep , or sit , or lye down , or walk , or enter into any Discourse ; in a word , in every action they fortify'd themselves by signing their Fore-heads with the sign of the Cross , even to the prefixing it to all their Writings , ( as afterward they used in nomine Domini , or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) and this by Apostolical Tradition , says b b Quaest. 91 in sacr. script . Anastasius Nicaenus .

IX . In every civil Action they customarily ●ed it , and in every sacred Office the Church enjoyned it ; it adorned the Robes , the Diadems , and the Armours of Princes , c c Chrysost. Tom. 6. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 630. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . For in their Devotions they stretch'd out their hands in the form of a Cross , says Tert. de Orat. cap. 11. and Asterius Amisenus , Hom. de Pharis . & Public . apud Phot. God . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 816. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . And at the reception of the sacred symbols it was by Canon enjoined , Conc. Trull . Can. 107. and in Ordinations , Chrys. To. 5. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 879. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Aug. Tract. 118. in Johan . nisi signum ( crucis ) adhibeatur , sive frontibus credentium , sive ipsi aquae , qua regenerantur , sive oleo , quo chrismate unguntur , sive sacrificio quo aluntur , nihil eorum rite perficitur . was used at their Prayers , and at the holy Table , in Confirmation , in Ordinations , d d Ruffin . Apol. adv. Hieron . 1. inter Hier. Opera , To. 4. p. 261. after the repetition of the Creed , and in all other Rites of the Church , but especially in Baptism ; for it was objected by Pope Cornelius against Novatian , ( apud Euseb. l. 6. c. 35. ) that he was incapacitated for the Office of a Bishop , because having been baptiz'd in his Bed , he was not sign'd with this holy Mark , nor did after his recovery ever seek after or desire the additional Rituals of this initiatory Sacrament . ( Where occasionally we may observe , that the Primitive way of administring private Baptism was the same with that of the Church of England ; in that case of necessity , the Cross with other Ceremonies being omitted , which are required afterward to be supplyed by the Priest , at the admission of the person recovered to be a Member of the Church . ) Nay our e e Apolog. 2. p. 157. Ed. Steph. Martyr tells us , that there is nothing in Nature , as well as Religion , wherein God hath not drawn the lineaments of the Cross .

X. So frequently was it used by those good men , that it was look'd on in those early days as a Testimony of their a a Tertul. Apeleg . c. 16. worshiping the Cross , says Tertullian , who derides the objection , and retorts it on his Adversaries ; nay , the very external Action was enough to denominate any man a Christian , for b b Naz. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 47. edit. Montacut . when some of Julians Souldiers having unwittingly took his largess , and thrown incense into the Fire , return'd home to eat , when their Fellow-Souldiers saw them look up to Heaven , and sign themselves before they drank , they smartly ask'd them , how they durst usurp the cognisance of that Master , whom they had renounc'd ? And I have somewhere read , that to erect a Cross on the top of an Heathen Temple was enough by the Law to make it a Church ; and when the ancient Christians were hurryed to Execution , as Malefactors , as Murtherers , or Traytors , and the noise of the Tumult drown'd their Apologies , they used to sign themselves with this sign , not only as a preservative against Satan and natural fears , but as a Publick Demonstration , that they dyed for Religion ; and in truth , were there nothing else in its usage but its natural signification , in the judgment of the c c Crinit . de honest . Discipl . l. 7. c. 2. vid. Socrat . Hist. Eccl. l. 5. c. 17. de cruce in ruderibus Templs Serapidis inventa . Aegyptian Wisemen , that might serve for its vindication , since in their Mythologick Divinity the Cross signified the hopes of Eternity , ( spem venturae salutis , seu vitam aeternam ) and that at Alexandria there was a Prophecy frequent in the mouths of the Priests , that their Temple should be destroyed when this sign did publickly appear .

XI . But the Cross hath its peculiar uses in that Sacrament that makes men Christians , to put them in mind that they ought not to be ashamed of their crucified Master , who by reason of the manner of his suffering became a stone of offence to the Jewish , and a scorn to the Heathen World , that they might glory in what the rest of men derided ; For , As soon as the Christians have left us , says the d d Lucian , de morte peregr . p. 996. Father of Scoffers , they deny , forsak , and abjure all their Heathen Gods , and worship only that their crucifyed Sophister , as he blasphemously calls Christ . Hence the e e Field of the Ch. l. 3. c. 1. p. 68. and Breerwood's Enquir . c. 21. Jacobites sign their Children at their Baptism with the sign of the Cross imprinted with a burning Iron , some in the Arm , some in the Forehead , that they may be known to be Christians , and if ever they shall fall away , to be Apostates ; and so do the Abassines , to distinguish their Christian Children from the Mahometans , says f f Ubi supr. p. 72. Dr. Field ; but their late Emp. g g Apud Hottinger . Topogr . Eccles. Orient . c. 3. Sect. 7. p. 77. Clandius in the Confession of his Faith , says , they use it only as a topical Custom , as they retain Circumcision , & the Indians the boring their Ears . And such as these doubtless were those Religious Aethiopians , whom * * Descript. Afrd. 1. c. 3 p. 7. Leo Africanus describes to have been so frequent every where in Europe , especially at Rome , who had their Faces mark'd with some Burnings , and this is their baptizing with Fire , which some men talk of as retained among them , answerable to the b b Lips . l. 1. de Milit. Rom. Dialeg. 9. Gentile Custom of marking their Souldiers in their hands , but Slaves in their Foreheads , that they might be publickly known whose Servants they were ; and this c c Vit. Cypr. S. Cyprians Deacon Pontius means , when he says , that the Confessors , who were condemn'd to the Mines , had a new Inscription made on their Fore-heads , the first mark being the Cross in Baptism ; ( frontium notatarum secunda inscriptione signati , ) and d d De precript . adv. Haeretic . Tertullian instancing in several particulars , wherein the Devil apes the rites of Christianity , among others reckons this , that the Priests of Mithras had their Foreheads also sign'd , ( and this may serve for an answer to that common Objection , that because the sign of the Cross hath been Idolatrously abus'd by the Romanists , therefore we ought to disuse it ; when as we see there lay the same Argument against the ancients , because the Priests of Mithras had usurp'd their Ceremonies . )

XII . And this was one great reason , why that place more than any other place of the body , was sign'd in Baptism , because being upbraided by the Heathens for adoring a Crucified Master , they were resolved e e Aug. Ser. 8. de verb. Apost . in that part , where is the Seat of Modesly , there to carry their Masters Bedge ; as another reason was to testifie their dependance on this despised person for salvation ; for whereas the f f Lactant. l. 4. c. 26. ad fin . Jews , when delivered from Aegypcian Slavery , were commanded to anoint the Posts of their Doors with the Blood of a Lamb ; so this usage testifies , that Christ who is the Lamb without spot , and was slain by those Jews , is a Saviour to all , who have imprinted the mark of his Blood , i. of his Cross which shed his Blood , on their Foreheads . Hence it is called by g g Contr. M●rcion . l. 3. c. 22. & de spectac . c. 4. Tertullian , signaculum frontium , who tells us , that it was retained even by the Marcionite Hereticks , by h h Apud Euseb. Hist . l. 3. c. 17. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Clemens as the most perfect Amulet ; by i i Tom. 1. Orat. 40. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Greg. Nazianzen , a Seal and Preservative , and Mark of Christ's Dominion over us ; by k k Auth. sub nom . Hier. in c. 4. Eph. signaculum spiritus sancti . S. Hierom , the Seal of the Spirit of God ; by l l Paulin. Ep. 2. ad Delphin . p. 202. maceria signaculi salutaris . Paulinus , the Hedge and Fence of that Sign that confers Salvation . m m Basil . Tom. 1. Hom. 13. p. 480. For unless the mark of the Lord be upon thee , and the Angel can see the Character , how shall he fight for thee , and defend thee from all thy Enemies ? n n Theodoret. in Cant. 1.2 . Remember therefore that sacred Office , wherein after your renouncing the Infernal Tyrant , and owning Jesus for your King , you that were initiated have received as it were a certain Royal Signature , ( the Signature of Christ o o I Eack . 9. S. Hierom calls it ) without which no man can he saved . So when God punish'd Vzziah with Leprosie , his angry Master , says a a De Unitat . Eccles. p. 153. S. Cyprian , branded him in that part of his Body , where those that serve him faithfully are signed , and b b Id. Epist. 56. p. 7● . all good Christians must take care that the mark that is there plac'd be not alter'd or defac'd . But of this enough , though more may be seen in c c De resurrect. carn. Tertullian , d d Hist. lib. 6. cap. 4. Eusebius , e e Hom. 76. in Matth. Chrysostom , f f De spiritu S. c. 27. Basil , g g In 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . &c. Prudentius , and others . h h Annot. in Cypr. Ep. ad Demet. c. 19. Goulart at Geneva confessing , That the Old Christians retained this Ceremony without any Superstition , because the Doctrine of the merits of Christ preserved them from the errours which afterward crept in , and i i Lib. 1. p. 170. T. C. himself , that they did it to testifie that they were not ashamed of Christ that was crucified , and that they might preserve among them an open profession of him ; for among the Primitive Christians , says k k Adv. Baron . exercit . 13. Sect. 23. p. 218. Ed. Francof . Isaac Casaubon , it was a Badge of their confidence in Christ , and his Cross and Passion ; and therefore the holy and wise Reformers of Religion in England prudently suffered the Crosses in the High-ways to stand , and retained it also in some of their Sacred Offices , as in Baptism , and in the Rite of Confirmation too , in the Liturgy of Edward the Sixth ; but in a different manner in Baptism from the Popish Custom ; l l Dr. Hammond of Idolatry , Sect. 70. For in the first Liturgy of King Edward , which agreed with the Roman Order , the use was to cross the Child at the Church-Door , when brought to Baptism ; but this of ours a mark of reception into Christs Flock immediately after Baptism , and a kind of Tessera , or Military sign , that the person thus consign'd into Christs militia , shall for ever hereafter think himself oblig'd manfully to fight under his Banner , &c.

XIII . Blessed Cross , says m m Tom. 4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in 2 Tim. p. 334. & Tom. 5. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 565. & 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 878. S. Chrysostom , that art the great contrivance of God the Father , the glory of his only begotten Son , the joy of the holy spirit , the Ornament of Angels , the Safeguard of holy Church , the boasting of S. Paul , than which neither the Creation of the World out of nothing , nor the erecting the Fabrick of the Heavens and Earth can be greater Testimonies of the Condescension and Mercy of God ; this Cross is the Wall of the Saints , and the Beauty of the whole World ; this introduces light , and makes alive ; by this the Daemons are put to flight , and Diseases cured . The truth and validity of which Conquests , because Mr. H. p. 335. derides it , I will evince , beginning with that place of n n L. 4. c. 27. Lactantius ( which our Aristarchus reckons among his Errours and Superstitious Observances ; ) He that would know how terrible this fign is to the Kingdom of darkness , let him observe how the Daemons fly from the Bodies of the possest , when they are adjured by the name of Christ ; for as he , when he blessed the World with his presence , expel'd those evil Spirits by his word , and restor'd the distracted minds of the Sons of men to the right use of their reasons , so now his Followers dispossest the same polluted Guests by the name of their Master , and the sign of his Passion ; and of this the proof is most easie , for when our Adversaries are most intent on their Sacrifices , if a Christian , whose Forehead is charactered with this holy sign , stand by , the slain Beasts are never propitious , nor can the Priests read the Sacrificer's Fate in the Eatrails ; and this hath been done too frequently by the men of our Religion to be disown'd . And here I cannot avoid the subjoining of a famous Example of a a Greg. Nys . Tom. 2. vit. Greg. Thaumat . p. 980 , 981. Gregorius Neocaesariensis , that great worker of Miracles , who that he might decline the Burthen of the Episcopal Charge , had retir'd himself from Neocaesaria to a Wilderness ; but at last was by a strange impulse from Heaven made willing to serve in so honourable an Employ ; and having received in a Vision a certain Creed or Summary of Faith to preserve him from Heresie , as he return'd from his solitude with his Companions , being overtaken with night and a violent shower , diverted himself in a famous Temple , where the Daemon used to appear visibly to the Priest , and deliver his Oracles : But as soon as S. Gregory entered and invocated the name of Jesus , the Daemons were terrified ; and having made the sign of the Cross to purge the air of those steams and fumes that polluted it , spent the night in Prayers and holy Praises , and early in the morning left his Lodging ; Crucis signum contra Daemonas esse praesidium , videsis apud spalat. l. 7. c. 12. Sect. 88. p. 308. & Montagues appel . c. 2 6/7. as soon as the holy man was gone , the Daemons told the young Priest , that they could not enter any more into the Temple , because of his late guest , and made it good by disobeying all his Charms , and slighting his Lustrations and Sacrifices ; on this the Priest in hast pursues S. Gregory , and overtaking him , threatens to bring him before a Magistrate , as a Christian , and an Enemy to their Gods ; all which the good Prelate slighted , and told him , that by the help of his God he question'd not but to confine the Daemon to what place he pleased , which the Priest catching at , desired him to restore his Familiar to his Temple ; S. Gregory cutting out a piece of the Leaf of a Book , writ on it these words , ΓΡΗΓΟΡΙΟΣ ΤΟ ΣΑΤΑΝΑ , ΕΙΣΕΛΘΕ , Gregory to Satan , Enter . Which Paper , when the Priest had laid on the Altar , and used the accustomed Rites , the Daemons enter as before . — On this , and the sight of another Miracle done by this wonderful man , he became a Christian , S. Gregory's Deacon , and afterward a Martyr ; b b Nyss. ubi supr. p. 1004 , 1005. who also a little before his Death three several times by the same sign secured himself from the Assaults of the Devil , and dispossest him of a Bath , which he before had fatally haunted . So when a a Eudoxia Orat. 1. in Cypr. Mart. apud Phot. Cod. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 215. the junior Cyprian the Magician ( who lived under Diocletian ) sent the most furious of his Familiars to disturb the holy Justina , who would not yield to his love , they returning confest , that they were shamed and overcome by the sign of the Cross .

XIV . Thus the Son of God appeared to his own vindication , and that not only when his Servants have been his Instruments , but sometimes when his greatest Enemies ; b b Sozom. l. 5. c. 2. & Naz. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in Julian . p. 29. the Church Historian affirming , that on a certain time the Apostate Julian went down into one of those dreadful Vaults , where the Novices were to be initiated , and met with some of those dismal Spectres , which the Priests by their Magick Art made appear there ; and being afraid , and unwittingly signing himself as he was wont , when a Christian , with the sign of the Cross , of a sudden all the Phantasmata vanish'd , the sign prevail'd , it dispers'd the Devils , and cancell'd the fears of that desertor . c c Aug. de C. D. l. 22. c. 8. I could also reckon the Cures wrought by this means on Innocentia , and others at Carthage , Tiburtius his walking safely over hot burning Coals , the Woman in the Baths at Gadara , that thus preserv'd her chastity , with many other Examples , but I forbear to surfeit my Reader ; Aut hoc testium satis est , aut nescio quid satis sit vobis .

XV. By these Methods came the Cross of Christ to exalt it self into the Banners of Armies , and to get a place on the Crowns of Monarchs , and so venerable a respect did the succeeding Emperours pay to this solemn Representation of the sacred passion , that d d L. 1. Tit. 8. Leg. unic . Theodosius and Valentinian made it a Law , That this Symbol should not be put to trifling and unworthy uses , nor engraven , or painted on the ground , or on Pavements , where it might be trod upon : And Heaven appeared to reward this piety in e e Paul . Diacon . addit. 18. ad Eutropium . Tiberius junior , who walking one day and taking notice of a Cross under his Feet , commanded it to be removed to a more honourable place ; which being done , a vast Treasure was found hid under it ; and though Constantine the Great hath been censur'd by some for his too frequent use of this sign , as an Amulet against all harms , and his causing so many Crosses to be made ; yet it is enough to me that the God who was crucified so commanded him , if we may believe his f f Vit. Constant . l. 1. c. 22. Historian , who had it from that August Emperors own mouth , showing it to him first in the Air , with this Motto , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Conquer in this sign ; and afterwards in a Vision expresly enjoyning him to make such another for his Standard Royal ; and his reasons why he stampt this Figure on his Money , an next it to his Pictures , placed it in his Standards , and on the Arms of his Souldiers , were very just , says a a De Orig. Templ . l. 2. c. 9 p. 47. Hospinian , That to the Christians it might be a Badge of their Profession , and to the Heathens an encouragement insensibly to draw them to desert their former Superstitions , and to worship a crucified Saviour ; and this Example of his was quickly followed , Ruffinus telling us , that the Alexandrians , who in the days of their Idolatrous Ignorance , commonly had the picture of their God Serapis on their Walls , and over their Porches , and in their Windows ; as soon as they were converted blotted them all out , and set up the Cross in their stead .

XVI . And all this while no person dream'd that these Miracles were wrought only by this sign , but by the power of him that dyed on the Cross , as b b Apud . Greg. Nyss. ubi supr. the Devil himself was forc'd to confess ; much less durst any man worship it , it is dis-owned by all the Apologists , by c c Apolog. c. 16. Tertullian , d d Octav. p. 97. Minutius Faelix , e e L. 6. cont. Julian . S. Cyril , and others ; cruces nec colimus , nec optamus , we neither worship the Cross as our God , says Minutius , nor desire it as our Punishment ; and in Constantine's Banner this was the Motto , says f f L. 8. c. 2. Nicephorus , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Jesus is the Conquerour ; and for the Church of England , she hath unanswerably vindicated her self to all rational men in her g g An. 1603. thirtieth Article , and by her redoubted Champion the profound h h Eccl. polit. lib. 5. Sect. 65. Hooker .

XVII . These were the ancient Triumphs of the holy Cross , such as not only commenc'd since , but long before the Incarnation of Jesus , i i Just. M. Tertul. Cypr. Ambr. Hier. Chrys. Naz. Athanas . &c. apud Montag . appel . Caes . c. 28. the Fathers expresly asserting , that Joshua routed the Amalekites rather by this sign , than by his Sword , as Abraham also vanquish'd the four Kings ; and it shall go on conquering and to conquer , to be the Glory of good men , and the Confusion of its Enemies ; for as k k Tom. 2. Orat . 1. in Resurr . Christ . p. 830. Gregory Nyssen , in his Mystical Way of commenting , hath it , This is that löta in the Gospel , which is seen with a stroak athwart it ( the figure of a Cross ) which is firmer than Heaven and Earth , and the whole Creation ; for Heaven and Earth shall pass away , and the fashion of the whole World shall fade , but one jet our tittle of this Law shall not pass away ; for our Saviour chose that kind of Death , that the Cross might supply the want of a Divine , and the Figure it self be an Instructor to the more perspicuous , to describe the Power and Triumphs of him , who being nailed to it , overcame all things ; l l Chrys. Tom. 5. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 880. this being the sign , that in the days of our Fore-fathers opened Doors when they were shut , quench'd the force of the most destructive poysons ; healed the bitings of wild Beasts , and with good reason , seeing it broke down the Gates of Hell , and opened the Kingdom of Heaven and Paradise , and we are no longer left to tremble at the Devil .

XVII . Thus then it conquered Constantines and all the Churches Enemies , and it shall confound the Jews , and all the Enemies of this holy faith at the day of Judgment , when a a Mat. 24.30 . the sign of the Son of man shall appear in Heaven , i. says b b In Loc. Tom. 2. p. 477. & Tom. 5. p. 576 S. Chrysostom , the Cross more glorious than the sun , for at that time the sun shall be darkned , and lye under a fatal Eclipse , but the Cross shall be visible ; which it could not be , were it not much brighter than the Beams of the Sun . And so the Text is understood by c c 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 473. Clemens Alexandrinus , d d Homil. 30. in Matth. Origen , e e Comment. in Loc. Hierom , f f Homil. 118. in Johan . Augustine , g g De Abraham . l. 1. c. 3. Ambrose , h h In Genes. l. 2. c. 17. Eucherius , i i In natali Christ . & praefat. in 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . &c. Prudentitus , and others ; to omit Beda , Theophylact , Euthymius , and the Moderns , and the Abassine Churches , who have made it an Article of their Creed ; and may we not probably think that those that were sealed in their Foreheads , Apocal. 7.3 . were signed with the sign of the Son of Man , and that the Elect at the last great appearance shall so be known ? So says k k Ad Demetrian . p. 167. S. Cyprian , The day of Judgment is at hand , when those that are strangers to God and Holiness , shall be burnt , and only those shall be able to escape who have been born again , and signed with the sign of Christ , as God elsewhere speaks , quoting Ezek. 9.4 . on which place , l l Et in Is. 66. S. Hierom ( and before him Origen ) tell us , that this Mark was a Tau , the Character of the Cross imprinted on the Foreheads of Christians in the New and Catholick Jerusalem , as m m Contr. Marcion . l. 3. c. 22. Tertullian also understands it ; and though all this may be a mistake , n n Scalig. in Euseb. Chron. p. 109. because the Samaritan Tau had not the Form of a Cross , yet it is enough to our purpose , that so the Fathers believed in this point .

XVIII . I cannot therefore but wonder , that whereas the devout o o De imitat . Christ . l. 2. c. 12. Thomas de Kempis asserts the same thing , that this sign shall be in Heaven when Christ shall come to Judgment , ( which Sentence Castellio le ts stand in his Edition , as does also the old English Translator ) what should perswade Rogers in his Edition to leave it quite out ? as also to expunge that other passage , That that man , who is arm'd with faith , and sign'd with the Cross of Christ , need not dread the powers of Satan ? For as to his Apology for it in his Epistle , it is not worth the naming . And is not Beza's squeamishness as worthy of our Censures , who in the Colloquy at Mompelgard profest , that from his very Soul he hated the sight of a Crucifix ( as the p p M S. Arab . apud Hottinger . compend . Theatri Orient. part . 1. c. 4. p. 86. superstitious Arabs rank the looking on the Cross ( aspectus crucifixi ) among the Causes of Sottishness and Obstructions of the memory ) whereas as learned and pious a man , a a Melch. Adam in vit. Chytr . p. 691. David Chytraeus , had always hanging in his Study the picture of the crucyfied Jesus , under which he had written several consolatory Sentences out of the Gospels , and Prayers on the seven last Sentences that Christ spake when he hung on the Cross . And I should think that such a Picture with Ignatius's Motto , O 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , My Love is crucified , or with that of S. Paul , I desire to know nothing else but Jesus Christ , and him crucified , might prove an excellent incentive of Piety . — I have now done with this long digression , and though it might have been thought unnecessary by some , yet I have been the rather incouraged to do it , because in my little reading I cannot find any set Discourse to the praise of this Martyr .

XIX . Sect. 5. p. 40. We are told out of S. Justin 's second Apology , in how simple and plain a manner the Ordinances of the Church were then administred without those pompous Observances , &c. afterwards brought in to the great dishonour of God , &c. which I am willing to think hath its relation to the Novel Ceremonies of the Church of Rome , but not to any of the Additionals of the Primitive and English Churches to advance the Beauty of those Sacraments ; ( there being a vast difference between the Age of Persecutions and our serene days , as to the necessity of decent and orderly Rituals ) Nor are we ignorant , that in those gloomy days the Church had many particular Observances in Baptism and the Eucharist , which Tertullian in his de Corona Militis reckons up ; and yet is very positive in asserting , That they were neither numerous , nor burthensome , nor pompous Ceremonies , b b Tertul. de Baptism . p. 27 0/1. Edit. Rhenani . Nihil adeò est , quod obduret mentes heminum , quàm simplicitas divinorum operum , — ut hinc quoque quoniam tantâ simplicitate sinè pompa , sinè apparats novo aliquo , denique sinè sumptu homo in aqua der . issus , & inter panca verba tinctus non multo , vel nihile mundior resurgit , eò incredibilis existimetur consecutio aeternitatis . Mentior , st non è contrario idolorum solennia , vel arcana de siggestu , & apparatu , d●que sumptu fidem , & authoritatem sibi extru●nt . Proh misera incredulitas , quae deneg as Deo proprietates suas , simplicitatem , & potestatem ! but makes that the grand difference between the Methods of the Christian and Heathen Worship ; and so I pass by that censure , as I also resolve not to animadvert the Opinions of this Father mentioned p. 44 , 45. of the Septuagint Interpreters and the Sibyls , though in both Relations there be somewhat hard to be maintained : But I pay more Veneration to so reverend a head , than causelesly and without provocation to undertake to uncover his defects , c c Theod. de Haeres . l. 1. Sect. de Menand . — 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . who to his Philosophick Habit added the Robes of Martyrdom .

XX. The Account that S. Justin gives of the usages of the second Century is so agreeable to the Apostolical Institution , and so full , that I shall allow my self the Priviledge a little to take a view of some particulars relating to those Ecclesiastick Offices ; and because in other Circumstances of Religious Worship the World hath been already sufficiently informed , I shall confine my self to their Method of instructing the people , by reading and preaching on the holy Scriptures . a a Philo apud Euseb . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . lib. 8. c. 7. The Jews were commanded by Moses , says Philo , to meet together in some convenient place , where they might hear the Law of God read to them , and expounded by the Priest , or some of the Elders ; ( these places were afterwards called Synagogues , and Proseuchae ) and for this end God divided Levi in Jacob , and scattered him in Israel , turning his Father's Curse into a Blessing , that he might be instrumental to the instructing of the people ; and for this end also the wise-men of the great Consistory divided the Law into 54 Sections , or Parascha's ( of which they ordered the four shortest to be read two at a time ) that so the whole might be read over once every year : To this Custom did our blessed Saviour in his life conform himself ( for I never find him scrupling any innocent Rituals of the Jews ) and as it was their usage out of reverence to the Author of those holy Oracles , both Priest and People b b Nehem. 8.4 , 5. to stand up at the reading of them ; so when the sacred Jesus took into his hands the Book of the Prophet Isaiah , c c Luc. 4.16 , 20. he stood up , read the Paragraph on which he intended to preach , and sate not down until he had closed the Book , and according to his example did the Apostles regulate themselves in Ecclesiastical Affairs , not only introducing that very good Custom of standing up at the New Law , the Gospel , ( which was early practised in all Churches , and by all men , but by the d d Sozomen . l. 7. c. 19. Patriarch of Alexandria , who only of all his Congregation , of all his Patriarchate , sate at the reciting of the Gospel ) but in ordering , that in all Religious Assemblies there should first be read a e e Origen . Hom. 15. in Jos . Portion out of the Law , and with this they contented themselves before the writing of the New Testament , their Homilies being only an explanation of Moses and the Prophets , and a Confirmation of our Saviour's Divinity and Doctrine from thence , f f All. 26.28 . saying no other thing than Moses and the Prophets foretold should come to pass ; but when the Gospels and Epistles were writ , they then took order , that some parts of the New Testament , especially the History of our Saviours life , should have a place in the Service , that the Truth might answer the Types ; So g g Hypotypos . lib. 6. apud Euseb. lib. 2. c. 14. Clemens Alexandrinus and Papias affirm , that S. Peter decreed , that the Gospel of S. Mark should be publickly read in the Christian Churches , and h h 1 Thess. 5.27 . S. Paul took care that his first Epistle to the Thessalonians should be read to all the Brethren .

XXI . These Books of the holy Canon being collected into one Code , during the Apostles residence on Earth , the reading thereof continued in the Church after the dissolution of that Family of our Saviours own immediate constitution , a a Clem. Rom. Ep. ad Corinth . p. 54. the employment devolving on the first-fruits of the converted City or Country where the Apostles preach'd , whom they left to raise a Superstructure on the Foundation which they had layd , and to cultivate what their industry had planted . So b b Apel. 2. p. 98. vi●e Clem. Alex. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . 3. p. 502. & Tert. Apolog. c. 39. S. Justin describes the state of their Christian Conventions ; All the people that dwelt in the City , or adjacent Country , met together in one Assembly on the Sunday , and then the Commentaries of the Apostles , or the Writings of the Prophets are read , and when the Reader ( a Church Officer very early instituted in the Church for this purpose ) hath done , then the Bishop who is the President of the Society , makes an Oration to encourage and exhort his Auditory to the Love , Imitation , and Practice of those blest Precepts . And when c c De anima cap. 9. Tertullian undertakes to enumerate the Solennia Dominica , as he calls them , the solemn Offices of that Festival , he mentions the reading of the Scriptures , singing of Psalms , hearing the Sermon , and holy discourses , and then the offering up their prayers to God . Which Expositions on holy Writ , as a part of the service of the Lords day , grounded on the custom of the Jews , and the practice of the Apostles , d d Act. 20.7 . S. Paul inures himself to , as a necessary Method of instructing his Neighbours in the Laws of Christian Obedience , and a great incentive and preparative to Devotion and the Eucharist ; in which the Apostles had this advantage of their Successors , that they could express themselves both in their Supplications and Sermons without premeditation , e e 1 Cor. 14.30 . being assisted by a peculiar afflatus of the Spirit of God , ( the Spirit of Prayer and Prophecy ) whereas their Successors , wanting those miraculous assistances , took on them to inform their Flocks according to the several measures of their Learning and Industry ; only those who were well furnished with the Arts of demonstration and holy perswasives , frequently spake ex tempore to the Congregation , as we may see in many of the Homilies of the ancient Fathers , S. Chrysostom especially . And that we may make a more regular proceeding in this disquisition , I shall speak to the time when , and how often these Sermons were made ; the places where , the persons who undertook this tremendous employment , and the manner how it was performed ; and by this course we may take a brief view of the ancient practices in this case .

XXII . We take it for granted , that th● Lords day was not without its share in thi● Honour , and that it was lookt on as a necessary part of the duty of every Prelate personally then to teach his people the Rules of Peace , and Purity . It was the practice of the Apostles , Act. 20.7 . and from them continued in the Church a a Chrys. To. 2. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in Matth. p. 31. Aug. Confess . lib. 6. c. 3. as a Law not to be dispens'd with ; and besides this solemn duty of the Sunday , in some Churches they had constant Sermons every Wednesday and Fryday in the Week , particularly at b b Socrat. Hist. lib. 5. c. 21. Alexandria , where by an ancient custom all the offices of the Lords day were then performed , except the celebration of the Eucharist , and that probably was omitted , because those were fasting-days ( stationum semi-jejunia , as Tertullian calls them ) in c c Id. Ibid. Cappadocia , and Cyprus ) and probably in all other Countries where the Saturday was not a Fasting-day ) they had Sermons on the Sabbath-day , as well as on the Sunday ; nay at Alexandria d d Hom. 9. in Isai . apud Centur. 2. c. 6. Origen seems to imply that they had Sermons every day , as the Centurists understand him , and this e e De bono pudicit . vide Holdsworth , part . 1. Lect. 4. p. 30. St. Cyprian terms the Bishops daily imployment ; nor was this Custom only used in the Southern Churches , but in the Churches of the East too . St. f f Homil. 3. p. 504. & Chrys . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . To. 5. p. 515. & To. 1. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in Genes. p. 64. & To. 4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in Act. App. p. 856. & Phot. cod . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 200. Gregory Nyssens Homilies on the Canticles imply , that he preacht on that Book of the inspired Solomon every day ; and this appears also by more than a few passages in St. Chrysostom's Homilies , in as much as it was expresly commanded all Bishops g g Can. 19. by the sixth General Council , that every Prelate on every day of the Week , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but especially on the Lords days , should instruct both his Clergy , and People ; ( by which we may judge of the Acumen of those Franciscan Fryers at Basil among the Switzers , who affirmed it h h M●●ch . Adain . Vit. Pellican . p. ●92 . to be a Lutheran trick to preach on any other but holy-days . ) But this Law was not so indispensibly binding , but that many days in the year wanted their Sermons ; only this we may aver , that unless in case of great necessity the Christians had their Homilies constantly on Sundays , on Festivals and their Eves , throughout the whole Lent , and the twelve days , the Octaves of Easter , and Whitsuntide , and the Rogation-Week , on Wednesdays , and Frydays , in most places , and at other times frequently , according to the discretion of the Prelate , or the fulness of the Congregation .

XXIII . But above all , they had their Lectures of Discipline every day throughout the Lenten Fast , and that not only in S h h Tom. 6. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 381. & ubi supr . Chrysostomes time , but even in the Infancy of the Aegyptian Churches , this practice was introduc'd among those Convert Jews , whom i i Hist. lib. 2. cap. 16. Eusebius out of Philo describes ; who through the whole seven Weeks of Lent were imployed in Fastings , Watchings and among other duties , in hearing the Word of God ; which Custom it were to be wisht that the Protestant Churches had retain'd , as well as the Romanists , who have their preachings every day in that holy time , the same person being obliged to continue the exercise as long as his strength shall permit him . Nor had the Ancients their Sermons only for one part of the day only , or but one at once , but it was usual very early in some places for the † † Constitute Apost. lib. 2. cap. 57. Presbyters , with the Bishops leave , to preach each one in his turn , or as many as were thought fit , and then the Bishop himself closed up all with a sober , and grave exhortation ; and sometimes if a b b Gaudent . Brixiens . tract . 14. & Nyssen . Tom. 1. p. 872. forreign Prelate came occasionally to a Church , he was desired to preach ; and sometimes the same Person preacht c c Aug. in Psal. 86. reficite vires , & refecti à cibis &c. nunc ad reliqua Psalmi , de quo in matutino locuti sumus , animum intendite . Chrys. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Tom. 6. p. 525. tit . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Id. T. 5 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in S. Laz. p. 229. twice a day ; for which sometimes that most admirable , and desired Preacher , S. Chrysostom was forc'd to make his Apology , and free himself from the imputation of introducing a novel Custom .

XXIV . And as the Governours of the Church took on them to appoint set times for hearing the Word of God explain'd , so also they took care , that every man might not be left to his own choice , but that fit places might be appropriated to this duty ( for in those days none but the Hereticks had their separate meetings ) the Apostles at first preacht from * * Act. 2.46 . & ●● 5.42 . house to house , for as long as they had extraordinary assistances , and no ordinary charge , the whole world was every Apostles Diocess ; but afterward , when they were fixt on setled and ordinary charges , the Bishop , being attended with his Deacons , was the only person that preacht , and for some time the converted Christians had not above one Sermon in a Diocess , which the Prelate preacht in his Cathedral in the Principal place of his charge , ( and therefore to ordain throughout every City , Tit. 1.5 . is the same with to ordain throughout every Church , Act. 14.23 . ) thither all the scattered Christians of the Neighbourhood resorted , and when the Offices were over , each man went home , and instructed his Family , as God enabled him : ( as in truth all the Ordinances of the Church were celebrated in the Mother-Church only , and none but the Bishop officiated therein , or some other by leave from him ) but when the number of the Brethren encreast , and a third Order of Ecclesiastical persons were instituted , a Colledge of Presbyters to attend the Bishop , as his Council , and Assistants , I suppose that not long after the date of their erection , the Churches of the Mother-Cities encreasing in number , the Presbyters had their several Titles confer'd on them by the Bishop , that every one might know his several part of that flock which he was to instruct . Hence in the Pontifical it is said that Pope Euarestus was the first that at Rome divided the Churches , and Cemeteries , among the Presbyters & it was also very antiently practised at a a Epiphan. haeres . 69. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Id. apud Sozom. hist. l. 1. c. 5. Alexandria . And thus it continued in the Cities some years , before the Country were so well provided for ; the first Country Presbyter that I meet with being to be found in b b Epist. 28. p. 34. St. Cyprian , who mentions Gajus the Presbyter , or Curate of Didda , and c c Haeres. 66. vide Ep. Episc. ad Dionys. &c. apud Euseb. lib. 7. cap. 24. & Socrat. lib. 1. cap. 27. & Conc. Ancyran . & Neo-Caes . Epiphanius takes notice of Trypho the Presbyter of Diodoris , a Village under Archelaus Bishop of Caschara in Mesopotamia , who with his Ordinary were great Opponents of the Heretick Manes , when he fled out of Persia into Romania ; and after this , the name commonly occurs in the Councils ; but this excellent Custom came later into some other parts of the World , than into the East , and South , for it was after the year 630. before this Kingdom of our Nativity was divided into Parishes , and * * Vid. Concil. Valens . Can. 4. probably after the year 400 that it was so ordered in France .

XXV . Every person , or every Clergy-man , was not at first thought fit to take the cure of Souls on him , none but the immediate Successors of the Apostles , the Prelates of the Church , who in truth discharg'd this and all other parts of the Ministerial Function ; till his burthen increasing , the Bishop permitted some Presbyters to discharge that duty , but neither durst they preach without their Ordinaries leave ( as we find the Apostles cautiously expecting a License from the President of the Jewish Assembly , Act. 13.15 . ) and seldom in his presence , ( but supplyed his room , when he was necessarily absent at a Synod , or in time of persecution , or for any other reason ) and at last sometimes were allowed to preach in his presence ; which Custom began to prevail every where , till Arius , being but a private Presbyter at Alexandria , began against the Injunctions of his Ordinary to spread his Doctrine , and scatter Heresie in his Sermons , whereupon he having so disturbed the Church , it past into a Law for the c c Socrat lib. 5. cap. 21. & Sozom. lib. 7. c. 19. African Churches , that none but the Bishop should dare to preach ; and so it continued for a considerable time , inasmuch as when Valerius , Bishop d d Possidon . vit. Augustin . c. 5. of Hippo , being unfit personally to instruct his Flock , called S. Austin his Presbyter and Successor to his Assistance , and permitted him to preach ; it made a great deal of noise , and created both the good Prelate and his Priest much envy , though Valerius pleaded for himself , that it was customary in the Oriental Churches ; but when S. Austin had thus broke the Ice , the Southern Churches in a small time did also embrace the usage : And there is still somewhat equivalent retain'd among us , not only in that our Liturgy calls all the Clergy of the Diocess the Bishop's Curates , but that when we are made Priests , we have Authority given us to preach the Gospel , when we shall be thereunto lawfully called , i. e. licensed by our Ordinary .

XXVI . The subject of the Sermon was commonly a a Aug. serm. 237. de temp . the Gospel for the day , which being the last of the Portions out of holy Scripture then read , might be presumed to have made its strongest Impressions upon the Auditory ; though I find some very learned men affirming , that till the fourth Age the Sermon had no other Text than what the Preacher thought fit : and it is most certain that the sacred and wise men did not always tye themselves expresly to a Text of Scripture , but took any subject themselves thought fit , and enlarged on it ; and that not only in their Panegyricks , but on several other occasions ( as may be seen in the Homilies of S. Chrysostom , S. Austin , and Chrysologus , and of late days in Dr. Clark's Sermons , and some others ) and very lawfully without doubt , though I heartily abhor the Impudence of that b b Apud Sixtin . Amama orat . de barbarie . ex Melanch . Schoolman , who ( like the rest of that Herd , that knew no more Scripture than what they found in S. Hierom or Gratian ) being to preach at Paris , where Melanchthon was his Auditor , took his Text out of Aristotle's Ethicks . But the Fathers were very chary in suiting their Discourses to the capacities and wants of their Auditory , not entertaining them with trifling Notions , but with the knowledge of their biggest and most momentous concerns ; S. c c Tom. 1. Apologet . 1. p. 15 , 16. Gregory the Divine describes the duty of a Preacher in this case , He is to treat of the World and its formation ; of the Soul , and Angels , as well those that kept , as those that lost their Integrity ; of Providence , and its wise Laws and Constitutions ; of the Creation of Man , and his restoration ; of the two Testaments , the Types of the Old , and the Antitypes of the New ; of Christ's first and second coming , of his Incarnation and Passion ; of the general Resurrection , and end of the World ; of the day of Judgment , of the rewards of the Just , and the punishment of the disobedient ; and above all , of the blessed Trinity . And S. John d d Tom. 5. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 523 , 524. Chrys. bids his people call to remembrance what he discours'd to them of the Nature of the Soul , of the Fabrick of the Body , and the state of immortality , of the Kingdom of Heaven , and the Torments of Hell , of the long-suffering of God , and the Methods of pardon , of the powers of Repentance , of Baptism , and the forgiveness of sins , of the Creation of the superiour and inferiour World , the nature of Men and Angels , the subtilty of Satan , and his Methods and Policies , of the different Opinions in the Christian World , of the true Faith , and the gangrene of Heresies , with many other such Mysteries , which it behoves a Christian to be acquainted with , and who is sufficient for these things ? — These Notions made men wise and rational , devout and obedient , while the airy speculations of the School serve only to swell the brains with a Fantastick Tympany . And I must profess it seems to me to be one of the best Sentences in a a In supputat . annor . mundi millenar . 1. Martin Luther's large Tomes , when he says , that the ante-diluvian Patriarchs did not entertain themselves and Children with gay discourses of inconsiderable things , ( de lana caprina ) but that they disputed of the cunning of the Serpent , and the sad effects of his Temptation , of the nature of sin and death , and the miseries of Hell , of the promised Seed that should ruine the Devil , of the Laws of Justice and Mercifulness , of Life and Paradise .

XXVII . Nor were these Sermons always , though commonly , new and unheard of discourses , and the genuine Off-spring of the Preachers brains , the products of his study and industry , but many times the works of other famous men . For thus b b Euseb. lib. 3. cap. 3. Hermas's Pastor was publickly read in the Church , and c c Id. lib. 4. cap. 22. Clemens his Epistle to the Corinthians , together with that of Pope Soter to Dionysius , and so was d d Hieron . Catalog . v. Polycarp . Polycarp's Epistle to the Philippians , as likewise the e e Id. v. Ephraem . works of Ephraem Syrus , read in the Churches of Syria , and in f f Sozomen . lib. 7. cap. 19. some of the Orthodox Conventions in Palestine , till the time of Sozomen the Church Historian , the Revelation of S. Peter was read once every year . And I suppose , that that which gave occasion to this appointing the Writings of Apostolical men to be read publickly in the Assembly , was that order of S. Paul , Colos. 4.16 . That the Epistle from the Church of Laodicea should be read in the Church of Colosse . Such also were the Acts of the Martyrs , which were always read on the Anniversaries of their Martyrdoms , and probably sometimes supplyed the want of a Sermon , and at last this gave occasion to the introducing of Homilies into the Church , which g g Tom. 1. Apologet. 1. p. 21. S. Greg. Naz. intimates were sometimes used in his days , but were commanded by the Council h h Can. 4. of Vaux , an. 444. to be read by the Deacon , if the Presbyter , who was imployed in that duty both in the City and Country , were hindred by sickness or any other way that he cannot preach .

XXVIII . And though the name Homily be grown odious to the half-witted Tribe of Zealots , who by an unlimited liberty of venting what they pleased in a Pulpit , opened a Gap to so many Heresies , yet it hath been applauded as a piece of good policy in the Grand , h h Gaguin . rer. Muscovit . c. 2. & Olear . Iti●er . lib. 3. p. 133. Duke of Muscovy to prohibit preaching throughout his Dominions , which had begot many a Quarrel and Errour , and to tye all Priests , how learned soever , to a select number of Homilies of the Greek and Latine Fathers , especially S. Chrysostom's , translated into the Russian Language , which are to be read in the Church without any addition or explication of their own , on pain of death . And because it might seem an unpardonable ramble to wander into Muscovy for a vindication of Homilies , I find the same remedy prescribed by that conscientious and learned , that humble and devout Prelate a a Is . Walton's Life of Bishop Sanderson non procul à fine . Bishop Saunderson , the great Master of Casuistical Divinity . That the way to restore this Nation to a more meek and Christian temper ( than it had put on in our late days of confusion ) was to have the Body of Divinity , or so much of it as was needful to be known , put into fifty two Homilies or Sermons , of such a length as not to exceed a third or fourth part of an hours reading , and these needful points to be made so clear and plain , that those of a mean capacity might know what was necessary to be believed , and what God requires to be done , and then some Applications of tryal and conviction , and those to be read every Sunday in the year , as infallibly as the Blood circulates the Body , and then as certainly begun again and continued the year following .

XXIX . Pyterius in the b b Lib. 8. cap. 9. Tripartite History is commended that he never adventured to instruct the people , but he always prayed before he preach'd ; and this ought to be the Divines practice at all times , says c c De doctr. Chr. lib. 4. cap. 15. S. Austin , ( though it be more than probable , that Christ or his Apostles seldom used a Prayer , either before or after their Sermons . ) In the Apostolical times the Priest and people mutually saluted each other with the gemina salutatio , d d Constit . App. lib. 5. cap. 5. the Lord be with you , and with thy Spirit ; and then the holy man preach'd , as the e e Can. 55. An. 1603. Church of England expresly requires the saying of the Lords prayer , and that either prefixt to the Text , or intermix'd in the discourse ; this Custom came from the Synagogue into the Church ; for f f Nehem. 8.4 , 6. Ezra , when he stood in his Pulpit of wood , and the people rose to hear the Law , he blessed the Lord the great God , and all the people answered Amen , Amen , with lifting up their hands , and bowing their heads . And in all likelihood the primitive Fathers always prayed before they preach'd . But what Prayers ? None but the Prayers of the Church , the publick Liturgy , as says that most ancient Father g g Epist. ad Corinth . p. 44. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Clemens Romanus , We being conscientiously and unanimously gathered together into one place , cry earnestly to God in our Prayers with one Voice , that we may be the better fitted to be made Partakers of his rich and glorious promises conveyed unto us in the Gospel . And this was the common practice , as it is now required in our Liturgy , that after the Nicene Creed the Sermon should begin , that being a part of the publick Divine Service , and when that is done , the Prayer for the whole state of Christ's Church militant , &c. and so S. h h Tom. 6. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 724. Chrysostom describes the Catholick Custom in his time , that there was no trouble nor noise in the Church , nothing intermixt in the sacred Offices ; there were Hymns and Prayers , and then the Spiritual Discourse ( the Sermon ) and after that a return to God in supplications , an excellent pattern of our present usages .

XXX . The customary way of preaching now in vogue is by Doctrine and use , a method found out and introduc'd into the Protestant Churches by Wolfgangus Musculus , to which Method the probate of the Doctrine by reasons was afterwards added ; but it was otherwise in the Sermons of the Fathers , whose Homilies were either to the praise of some person or virtue , or the dispraise of some vice , or else expositions on some part of Scripture , either in a litteral or allegorical way , as the Genius of the good man led him ; in the first sort of these Sermons we find S. Chrysostome especially most elaborate , as in truth the Greek Fathers tye themselves to the rules of Oratory , and are great Imitators of Demosthenes ; and at the end of his Comments , that golden-mouth'd Patriarc● subjoins an exhortation ( 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) but such as has not always a native relation to the Text , but what either some passage in the Homily , or some extraordinary event of providence occasionally gave a being to . As in truth those wise Prelates used such modes of discourse as were best fitted to the Ears and Humour of the Age they lived in . They omitted nothing that might instruct the Congregation , or any private Christian , in the Church , or the Closet , and therefore as they were thus diligent in the Temple , so they anciently were careful in digesting the Sermons of the holy Prophets , a a Epiphan. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . dividing them into ten several Heads or Classes , into Instructions , Visions , Exhortations , Threatnings , Lamentations , Consolations , Prayers , Histories , and Prophecies , of which some related to the state of the old Law , others to the days of the Messiah ; to all which they used to prefix certain Notes and Marks , by which the Reader might be easily directed to understand which of those several Heads of Discourse was treated of in each Paragraph .

XXXI . Before they fell immediately on the subject of their Homily , according to the Rules of Oratory the Preacher sweeten'd and allay'd the passions , prepar'd and smooth'd the minds of his Auditory , by some pertinent and perswasive Preface , wherein they for the most part gave some specimen of their Learning and Zeal ; for it was an usage among the most famous b b Cic. To. 3. lib. 16. Ep. 6. ad Attic. p. 553. De gloria librum ad te mist , & in eo proaemium id est quod in Academico tertio , id evenit eb eam rem , quòd habeo volumen proaemiorum , & ex eo eligere soleo , cùm aliquod 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 institui . Vide & Demosth . exordia concionum inter opera Demosth . p. 216. &c. Edit. Wolsti . Orators to keep a stock of Proems by them , which might with a little labour fit all occasions . And this Preface was thought so necessary , that the * * Nyss. Tom. 1. p. 871. Father seems to make an Apology for his omitting it : As on the contrary sometimes they indulg'd too far to them , and then also were forc'd to a a Chrys. To. 5. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 282. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Vide & Tom. 1. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in Genes. p. 197. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. Apologize . In his Sermon the charitable and eloquent man b b Id. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in S. Lazar . Tom. 5. p. 242. did frequently use to give his Auditory an account some days before of the subject , which he next intended to treat of , that they might in the mean time exercise their Meditations thereupon , and bring with them minds prepar'd for the entertainment of the truth ; and at his next return to preach he gave them encouragement to be more accurate in the performance of their present duty , c c Id. Tom. 1. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in Genes. p. 17. & 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 90. by rendring them his thanks for their sedulous attention to his last Discourses , and d d Nyss. Tom. 2. p. 931. hom. in 40 Martyres . for their thronging to Church , and e e Chrys. To. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 72⅔ . complaining , when they saw the house of God thin and empty ; and in truth so much were the people taken with the Piety and Gravity of the man , with the Reason and Eloquence of his Discourses , that there needed nothing else to make them serious ; for they were so transported by his holy Rhetorick , that they f f Vide Dr. Cave's Primit . Christ . part 1. c. 9. p. 28 9/1. not only flock'd in infinite quantities to the Church when such accomplish'd men preach'd , but put a great estimate on those sacred Embassadors of the glad Tidings of Peace , and testified much reverence at the reading of the Scriptures ; g g Chrys. To 4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in 2 Thessal . p. 234. for when the Reader stood up , and said Thus saith the Lord , and the Deacons standing by bid all the people keep silence ( for he read a Lesson first out of the Prophets , then out of the Evangelists , and then out of the Epistles ) they presently obeyed him , as men that were sensible that they convers'd with that God who speak by such earthly Instruments , and by their Embassy sent his Mysteries and Epistles every day from Heaven to the Sons of men .

XXXII . The Apostles , whose strength and abilities were prodigious , knew no limits , but as the emergent occasion of their own and flocks necessities required , so they enlarged or contracted their discourses ; the Apostle S. Paul lengthen'd one Sermon , that it lasted from Morning till Evening , Act. 28.23 . another till midnight , Acts 20.7 . but this was miraculous ; and the Church thought fit to limit the time afterward , and to h h Cyril . Jerus . Cateches. 13. allow not above an hour for the Sermon ; and sometimes the Fathers Homilies took up a much less space , not for want of matter , but because they would not impose on the patience and memories of their Auditories ; so beside many short Sermons of S. Chrysostom , S. Basil , St. Austin , Fulgentius , Maximus , Ambrose and others , I find Chrysologus especially hath more than one Homily on the whole Creed , and other such comprehensive Subjects , where he could not possibly want matter , and yet the largest of them will hardly find a slow and deliberate man a quarter of an hours talk , and for this a a Regul. c. 9. Isai. 10.23 . Rom. 9.28 . St. Francis thought he had found a Text of cripture , that expresly authoriz'd him to command his Fryers to make short Sermons , quia verbum abbreviatum fecit Dominus super terram ; and as acceptable as the most Eloquent Fathers were to their Auditors that admir'd them , yet they b b Chrys. Tom. 5. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in S. Lazar. p. 221. were conscious to themselves , that they sometimes trespast on their patience , by being too long and tedious in their Sermons ; and therefore they tyed themselves for the most part to a set time , when the extraordinariness of the Subject might have enclined them to continue their holy discourse longer , c c Id. Tom. 5. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in S. Roman . p. 845. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Basil . Tom. 1. horn . 2. in Ps. 14. p. 157. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Id. hom. 23. p. 564. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Concionator non ultra horam , nè fastidium pariat auditoribus . Can. Hungaric . and this time was generally an hour , as appears not only by what the Fathers themselves mention in the case , but particularly by that observation of d d Chrys. Tom. 6. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 724. Vide Orig. hemil. 2. in Numer . St. Chrysostom , that the whole service took the space of but two hours , and I am sure , that their Liturgies in those days were so long , and full of variety of Collects , Lessons , and Responses , and such other Offices , that that alone could not take up less than one hour of the two .

XXXIII . And I am sorry , that I must say , that sometimes such was the vanity of those first Ages , that they fell into the same error with us of the present time , imagining the whole of Religion to consist in preaching . What shall I go to Church for , says the Objector in the golden mouthed e e Id. Tom. 4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in 2 Thess. p. 234. Father , if I cannot hear a Sermon ? To which the good Patriarch answers , this one excuse hath ruin'd and destroyed all Piety ; for what need is there of a Preacher , unless the Necessity take its Original from our sloth and negligence ; for what end must we have Homilies ? All things are clear , and open in the holy Scriptures , all things necessary are plainly revealed . But men are ensnared by their ears , and their fancy , and therefore seek after Novelties . Tell me what pompous Train of words did S. Paul use , and yet he converted the World ? What Eloquent Harangues did the illiterate Peter make ? But there are many difficult places of Scripture . God hath given thee a view of so many plain places , that thou mayest take pains to understand the rest . Oh but we have the same things read to us every day out of the Scriptures , while the Preacher entertains us with novelties ( and this in truth is the material argument ) As if the same sights were not your entertainments every day at the Theatre , and Horse-races , as if we durst not do the business of the day , unless every morning a new Sun rise on us , nor eat , unless we had every day variety of Chear . So that admirable man , and with his words I close this digression .

XXXIV . The Chiliast Dogma is §. 6. reckoned as the first of this Saints erroneous opinions , and a a Orat. de lect. s . s . Patr. in Justine . Chemnitius says it was a fundamental one ; and an error it is , but in the sence of S. Justin so innocent , and inoffensive , that I think it severe to brand it , as b b Theodoret . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . lib. 3. in Nepote . some have done , with the name of Heresie ; especially since it seems to have been the general belief of the Fathers of the second Century , and not a few of the third ; the learned c c Life of S. Justin . sect. 22. p. 156. Dr. Cave reckons Papias , Irenaeus , Apollinaris , Tertullian , Nepos , Victorinus , Lactantius , and Sulpitius Soverus , to whom we may add Melito Bishop of Sardis , Commodianus , Quintus Junius Hilarion , and the Junior Apellinaris of Laodicea , and after them Tychonius Afer the Donatist , and for some time d d De C. D. lib 20. c 7. S. Austin himself ; and till the end of the fourth Century the opinion was plausible and well entertain'd , but then , says e e Tom. 2 an. 118 p. 62. & Tem. ● . an. 37● . p. 353. Baronius , Apollinaris Laodicenus taking on him to write against Dionysius of Alexandria , that had opposed the assertion of the Millennium , and answered the Books of Nepos , it became formal Heresie , and was so condemn'd in the Roman Synod under Pope Damasus , and after that was never heard of . The Acts of this Synod the Cardinal confesses are lost , and I find it the opinion of a very f f Dr. Covel's Des. of Hocker . Pres p. 12. learned man , that it was the malice of Apollinaris his adversaries , the Arians , Eunomians , and others , against whom he had writ with much reason and vehemence , that forged these Calumnies , to decry those books they could not otherwise answer ; and I should willingly believe it , did not the Authority of g g Epist 74. S. Basil , h h Haeres. 75. Epiphanius , . and i i In Ezek. c. 36. S. Hierome oppose it , but especially k k Tom. 1. O●at . 51. p. 741. S. Gregory the Divine , in his first Epistle to Cledonius , assuring us , that Apollinaris held the opinion in the grossest sense , introducing the necessity of Circumcision , and legal Sacrifices ; and in his l l Id. Orat. 52. p. 747. second Epistle he impeaches him of Judaism , Chiliasm , and the dream of sensualities in Paradise ; and in truth , the belief of the Jews was much like this , who expected a Messiah to come with outward Pomp and Grandeur , and to restore the Kingdom to Israel . ( And perchance Cerinthus having been first a Jew , from them drew his opinion . ) And that the joys of this Monarchy should consist in the Restoration of the Temple at Jerusalem , and the legal Sacrifices , the Sabbath , and Circumcision ; that in that Estate they should marry , and get Children , and enjoy such other sensualities , much like a Mahometan Paradise .

XXXV . But this was far from the mind of S. Justin , and the followers of Papias , unless we shall except m m Instit. l. 7. c. 24. Lactantius , who tells of Rocks that shall sweat Hony , and Rivers running with Wine , and Marriages whose Issue shall be a holy Generation , which I take to be spoken Allegorically , and in a Poetical way ( as that Father was not over-wary in describing matters of Faith ) for we are told , n n Just. M. Dial. cum Tryph. Judaeo p. 233. that they lookt not for material Altars , or bloody Sacrifices , but that their Oblations should be Eucharistical Hymns , and Spiritual praises offered to God ; so that certainly S. Hierome does those venerable men a great deal of wrong , in making their opinion the same with that of the Jews , and Cerinthus , against whom Irenaeus , and Tertullian , and Justin Martyr too writ , which certainly they would never have done , had they been of the same perswasion , a a Lib. 5. c. 26. Irenaeus expresly charging that Heretick with the denial of the Resurrection of the dead , and Danaeus tells us , that the Chiliasts , who followed Cerinthus , lookt for their eternal life in this World , to be enjoyed in the City of Jerusalem , and spent in carnal Voluptuousness , and to last a thousand years ; and uses this as an argument against them , Si post mille annos finitur haec vita , non est aeterna , that cannot be Eternal , which shall last but a thousand years . And therefore whereas of this Dogma in the sense of Cerinthus b b Lib. 4. in cap. 19. Jerem. S. Hierome in his dispassionate mood tells us , that he durst not condemn it , because so many famous men , and Martyrs , have held it , we must affirm , that here that learned Antient was mistaken , for it was a spiritual Kingdom abstracted from the observances of the Mosaick Oeconomy , that they asserted , and this in the judgment of c c Ubi su pr. S. Austin makes the opinion very tolerable ; and it is observable , that in the same place the same Father fastens the name of Chiliasm to the notion of the Mahometan Paradise . Nay d d Ubi supr. p. 253. vide p. 306. &c. S. Justin affirms confidently , that all the disciples of the Orthodox , and pure doctrine , all thorow-pac'd Christians , believed as he did ; but they that denyed it , were only Christians in Name , but in reality Atheists and Hereticks , men that disowned the Resurrection , such as were the Cerinthians , Carpocratians , Basilidians , Marcionites , &c. against the last of which Hereticks e e Contr. Marc. lib. 3. cap. 24. Tertullian uses this Topick to prove the Resurrection , as Irenaeus does against the Cerinthians .

XXXVI . But this argument hath been learnedly , and ex professo fully handled by f f Comment. de mille annis Apocalypt . Mr. Mede , who gives us a good reason of the general entertainment , which the belief every where found , viz. to bring over , and Convert the Jews , by telling them that they expected no other Messiah , but him , whom themselves lookt for , even Jesus of Nazareth , who should establish such a Kingdom , as the Prophets had foretold . Thus stood the Judgment of the most Primitive Antiquity , and in this , and the last age , it hath been asserted not only by Mr. Mede , but by Coelius Secundus Curio , Cunaeus , and others in this Spiritual sense , that the Church of Christ shall for a thousand years flourish in greater purity , and power , for faith and manners , in greater lustre , and external glory , than hitherto it hath done in all former ages . And for my part , says g g Theolog. Vet. lib. 3. c. 7. p. 513. Dr. Heylin , I see no danger in assenting to it , and if this will please the Millenaries , they shall have me with them . And I have been inform'd by a very Reverend and learned Person , that in the late Siege of Oxon , in our unhappy Civil War , Dr. Rawleigh the then Dean of Wells taking up this opinion ( I suppose only for disputation sake ) was attempted by the Primate of Armagh , who one day returning from him , was askt by Dr. Stewart that met him , what had heated his Lordship ; he freely told that he had been discoursing with Dr. Rawleigh who was become a Millenary , to whom Dr. Stewart replyed , One such old Error , my Lord , is worth a thousand of your new ones .

XXXVII . Nor doth the Church of England any where expresly condemn the tenet , but rather discountenances its being reckon'd among the Heresies , for whereas in the Articles of Religion publish'd under King Edward the sixth , this is one , a a Art. 41. p. 52. Ed. Garthw . They that go about to renew the Fable of the Hereticks called Millenarii , be repugnant to holy Scripture , and cast themselves headlong into Jewish dotage . The Articles under Queen Elizabeth have quite left it out , as if the Opinion were credible and safe . All this I have said to testifie the great credit which this Opinion once had , and that I cannot yet think it an Heresie ; though for my self I subscribe to the dictates of the Church in b b De Dogm . Eccles. cap. 54 & 55. Gennadius . In the divine promises we expect nothing earthy or transitory , as the Militani do , no renewal of Marriages , as Cerinthus and Marcion dote , no sensualities of Meat and Drink , as Papias , Irenaeus , Tertullian , and Lactantius do believe ; nor do we hope for a future reign of Christ for a thousand years after the Resurrection to commence here on Earth , and that the Saints shall reign with him in pleasures , as Nepos taught , who first found out a distinction between the first Resurrection of the Just , and the second of the Wicked ; and that in the interval between these two Resurrections of the dead , That the Nations that know not God shall be kept in the flesh in the Corners of the Earth , who after the thousand years reign of the Just on Earth , by the instigation of the Devil , shall fight against the Righteous , and be overcome by a shower of Fire rain'd from God , that shall fight for the Just ; by which the Wicked being slain shall have another Resurrection in incorruptible Bodies , with the rest of the Sinners that before-hand dyed in their Iniquity , to be confin'd to eternal Torments .

XXXVIII . Nor is the Opinion of the Angels begetting Gyants on the Daughters of men without many a venerable Author to assert it , whom we may find quoted by c c Life of S. Justin . sect. 24. p. 157. Dr. Cave , to whom among the Ancients d d Ser. de Resurrect. apud Phot. cod . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 480. Methodius adds Origen , refuting his Assertion , that the Angels after their Apostasie falling in love with flesh , and were intermix'd with the Daughters of men ; and besides the Authority of the Translation of the Seventy , which the Fathers , not understanding Hebrew , constantly used ( or had they , the Sons of God signifie the Angels in that holy Language , Job 1.6 . where the Septuagint also renders it , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Angels of God ) what did much perswade to the Belief of this Opinion , was the conceit they had entertain'd of the Authority of the Book of Enoch , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , concerning Guardian Angels , where there is a formal story told of this matter , which he that hath leasure and patience may read in a a Pag. 244 , 245. Scaligers Notes on Eusebius ; an Apocryphal piece , quoted by S. Jude ; and consequently thought afterward the genuine product of the Patriarch : So says b b Legat. pro Christian . p. 31. Edit. Stephani . Athenagoras , Know ye , that we speak nothing without Witnesses , but what is declared in the Prophetick Writings , as also is affirm'd by c c Apud Scalig. p. 243. Zosimus Panopolites , in his Book of Chymistry : The Book it self being Antiently had in such estimation , that it is not unreasonably conjectured by some a a Thorndyke's Review , ch. 5. p. 15¾ . learned men , from its being quoted in the Epistles of S. Peter , and S. Jude , that it was primitively read in their Publick Assemblies , and that S. Paul , in 1 Cor. 11.10 . affirming that the Woman ought to have power over her head , because of the Angels , alludes to that Legend , as to a passage publickly known , though not true ; as 1 Cor. 10.4 . he seems to allude to another fabulous story among the Jews , that the Water followed the Israelites in the Wilderness over Mountains , and Rocks , till they came to the Land of Canaan . This doubtless wrought on d d De habitu mulicbr . Edit. Rhen. p. 180. G. Tertullian , ( who undertakes to prove the Book to be genuine ) and he on his Scholar S. Cyprian ; nor did it only make Proselytes among the Christians , it captivated the two most learned Jews , Philo and Josephus .

XXXIX . The Martyr is next charg'd with affirming the salvability of the Heathens , and attributing too much to the Writings of Plato and other Philosophers ; as to the last of which , I declare that many truths look so lovely in the dress of that wise man , that I cannot but admire the clearness of his reason , and sublimeness of his Natural Divinity ; especially their consonancy to the Articles of our Christian Belief ; he acknowledging but one God , confessing him infinitely wise , and infinitely powerful , that he made the World , and governs it , that the Soul is immortal , and shall after death enjoy God , and many other such excellent Notions ; above all plainly confessing a e e Vide Aug. de C.D. sect. 10. c. 23. Trinity , or three Principles , the Platonick Notion being adaequately consonant to the Description in the first Chapter of S. John's Gospel , which a great f f Apud eund. c. 29. Philosopher of that School told Simplicianus , Bishop of Millain , deserv'd to be writ in Letters of Gold ; and which g g Apud Euseb . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . l. 11. c. 19. Amelius confidently , but falsely asserted , That that Barbarian ( meaning S. John ) had stole out of the Books of his Master Plato : and it was observable , that most of the Academicks , especially h h Aug. Epist . 56. Dioscoro . the School of Plotinus , either suffered themselves to be enslav'd to the love and practice of curious Arts and Magick , or being truly in love with Wisdom became Christians , as it happened to many of that Philosophick Family in S. Austin's time , who i i Id. de vera relig. cap. 4. affirms , that a little alteration of Opinion , and the mode of speaking , would easily make a Platonist a Christian : And I must profess my self so much ravish'd with the morality of that Divine Man's Discourses , that would my Religion permit it , as it will not , I could yet joyn my Devotion to the Petitions of k k Poem . p. 32. Edit. Etonens . Johannes Euchaitensis , for the Salvation of Plato and Plutarch . But I am apt to think that there is no need to pray for that , which , for ought I know to the contrary , may be already accomplish'd .

XL. l l Exercit. 1. n. 1. Isaac Casaubon , and after him m m Life of S. Justin . sect. 20 , 21 , p. 154. &c. Dr. Cave affirm , that the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which Justin Martyr mentions , signifies no more , but every mans reason and natural notices of good and evil , which are given us from him , that is the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Eternal Word and Wisdom of the Father , and so they that live according to this Natural Light , in some sense may be said to partake of Christ , and to be Christians ; and so come within the reach of that Text , That the name of Jesus is the only name under Heaven , by which men can be saved . Nor hath this Doctrine but gotten many an Assertor among the Moderns , Erasmus , Ludovicus , Vives , Zuinglius , and Luther , with many a learned Schoolman , and others , as they are cited by a a De animab . paganor . l. 7. c. 6. Collius , b b Tom. 3. disp. 1. qu. 2. p. 4. Gregory de Valentia , and c c Orthodox . fid. Explic. l. 3. resp . ad axiom . 6. — Andradius ; and among the Ancients this Martyr , and Cleemns Alexandrinus , affirming , d d 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 234. that the Law was a guide to the Jews , and Philosophy or the use of right reason to the Gentiles ; and that this did of it self justifie the Heathens . Were not the Fathers that lived before Christ injured by their not knowing him ? says e e Tom. 2. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in Matth. p. 248. S. Chrysostom , in no wise , for it is apparent , that they that did not confess Christ were saved ; for there was nothing then required of them , but to know the true God , and abstain from Idolatry ; and they that did so abstain , and worship that God , and observe the best sort of Conversation , though they were ignorant of Christ , shall partake of all good things , for there shall be Honor , and Glory , Rom. 2.10 . and Peace , to every one , that does good , to the Jew first , and also to the Gentile : For then it was sufficient to their Salvation to know God aright , but now it is also required , that we know his Son Jesus , whom he hath sent , for had I not come , Joh. 15.22 . and spoken to you , you had had no sin . And if this Hypothesis be true , as I am of opinion , that there was no explicite knowledge then required , but only of the one God , was not Socrates a Martyr for that truth at Athens ? ( for I fear not to give him that Title , since the Church bestows it on the Infants at Bethlehem , who knew nothing of Christ , and on S. John Baptist , who dyed a Martyr to the Decalogue rather than to the Creed ) and if Idolatry then was the great Crime forbidden , did not that great man mock at their many Gods ? f f Tert. Apol. c. 14. ( 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) And as to a holy Life ; his calls for the blushes , as well as imitation of those , who have nothing to boast of as a Title to Heaven , but the Character of their Baptism ; and it wants not an Author to assert it , that Socrates's Daemon was a good Angel deputed to attend him . This serves to vindicate the Heathens that lived honestly before the fullness of time , and clears our Martyr ; and for those that have lived since , I cannot think so hardly of Gods mercy , that they shall be damn'd for not believing in a Saviour , of whom they have not heard ; the Laws of God requiring , that the Gospel must first be preach'd , and then he that believes , and is baptiz'd , shall be saved , and he that believes not shall be damn'd . And as to the eighteenth Article of our Church , I suppose it was intended only to destroy that loose tenent of some men , of all perswasions , that whatever a man's opinion be , if he live honestly he must be saved .

XLI . The Doctrine of free-will is in the same page , reckoned as one of S. Justin's errors ; and p. 74. laid to the charge of Irenaeus , and p. 106 , 107. of Clemens Alexandrinus , and indeed to which of the Fathers does he not impute it ? The complaint I must confess , is not made by Mr. H. only , but by many others , that the Fathers spoke not warily enough in this point before the rise of Pelagius , and the propagating his heresie , in as much as a a Ep. ded. Ludov. Borb . ante Nov. Test. Beza tells us , that the interests of truth had been absolutely ruin'd , had not S. Austin appear'd to her rescue against Pelagius ; and b b Ad Lector . ante Caten . Aloysius Lippomannus , of the other Church , that for this reason S. Chrysostom especially is to be read with caution . But the fears of Beza were ill grounded , if we may credit c c Commonitor . cap. 34. Vincentius Lirinensis , since before Pelagius , no man ever asserted this unlimited freedom of mans will , or that the grace of God was not necessary to the doing of every good Action . 'T is true , they say , that when the spirit of God makes its addresses to the man , and grace is offer'd him , that mans will is still free , either to resist it , or to comply with it ; and that the Image of God imprinted on us , doth shine so brightly in nothing , as in this liberty ; but still they affirm the necessity of preventing grace ; and that nothing can be well done but by the assistances thereof . And this hath d d Life of S. Just. Sect. 25. p. 158. Dr. Cave done for the Fathers , whom Mr. H. accuses , who testifies , that they acknowledge a necessity of strong assistances , and divine Grace to raise the Soul , and exalt it to spiritual activities : for the rest of the Fathers , my Reader may consult e e Hist. Pelag. lib. 3. part . 1. Thes. 1 , 2. part. 270. &c. Voss●us , and f f L. 7. c. 11. Sect. 23. &c. Spalatensis , and S. Chrysostom speaks for himself , that he means only a freedom from necessity and coaction ; Christ says , If any man will come after me , I do neither force nor compel , but leave every man Master of his own will , but this still presupposing his Grace , g g Tom. 4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in Ep. ad Philip. p. 46. for it is he alone , that gives us willingness , and ability , for it is his whole work ; h h Id. Tom. 4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in 2 Tim. p. 368. dive not thou into God's secrets , learn to know this only , that God orders all things , foresees all things , and that men are free ; that some things he actually produces , other things he permits ; that he is willing that no Evil should have a being , that all things are not done by his will , but by ours , all evil Actions proceeding from our selves only , all good Actions from our will and his Assistance . I will shut up all with the words of i i De Dogmat . Eccles. c. 49 , 50. Gennadius Massiliensis ( especially because he was look'd on as a Semipelagian ) This by the Grace of God ought we to preach and believe , according to the Testimony of Scripture , and the ancient Fathers ; that the will of man was so depraved by Adam 's sin , that no man can love God as he should , or believe in him , or do good , unless the Grace of God prevent him ; and after Baptism we do not first begin the holy Action , and then are assisted , but God himself first inspires Faith and Love of him , without any merits of ours preceeding .

XLII . I have thus vindicated this Father , and yet must my self confess , That in point of Chronology he is many times overseen , as in making k k Apolog. 2. Herod King of Judaea , when the septuagint Interpreters Translated the Bible under Philadelphus , in affirming , a a Dial. cum Tryphone . that our Saviour was not born at but near Bethlehem , and that b b Ibid. according to the Tradition of the Jews , he was crucified not under Herod Ascalonites , but under his Son Antipas , and that this latter Herod was then the High-Priest . But such slips of the good mans memory are as easily pardon'd , as known by all ingenuous and pious men . In his Death and Martyrdom Eusebius is silent , but c c Tom. 2. an. 165. p. 159 , 160. Baronius , out of the Acts of his Martyrdom , gives us an exact account both of his Examination , his being first scourged , and then beheaded , d d Apolog. 1. p. 46. though himself seems to expect to be crucified , saying , That he look'd that some of his Enemies would accuse him , and that he should dye his Master's death . And he there particularly mentions Crescens , that vile and profligate , that debauch'd and ignorant Cynick , who was the cause of his Martyrdom ; at what time , whatever e e Haeres. 46. Epiphanius mistakes , or rather his Transcriber , he must needs be above 30 years of Age. So dyed this generous Apologist for the Laws and Religion of Jesus , an. 165. says Baronius , but Dr. Cave in his Chronology makes it to have fallen out a year , if not two sooner ; and the Church hath dedicated a Festival to his memory , on the first of June in the Greek Church , but in the Western on the 13th of April , and may his name be had in everlasting remembrance .

THE LIFE OF S. Irenaeus , BISHOP OF LYONS .

I. IN the Memoirs of this grave and learned Prelate , I cannot find much that may justly be reprehended , unless the Reader may be , as I have been , inclined to wish , that Mr H. had spoken more fully to some passages of his life : but withal I acknowledge my longings genuinely satisfied by the Reverend Dr. Cave , who , among other things accurately related , acquaints us with Irenaeus's mission from the Churches of Lyons and Vien to Eleutherius , and the Asian Churches ; not to the Asian Churches only , in which journey he occasionally took Rome in his way , as Mr. H. p. 53. avers out of a a Vit. Irenaei●nte opera . Feuardentius ; nor to Rome only without any Letters at all to the Asian Churches , as b b Tom. 2. an. 179. p. 246 , 247. Baronius would have it , but to both : to the Eastern Churches , to compose the differences there rais'd by the followers of Montanus , and to Pope Eleutherius , not because it was the duty of that Oecumenical Pastor to decide all Controversies , as the Cardinal would have it , for himself was infected with the same heresie , says c c adv. Praxeam c. I. Tertullian ; but to ratifie his authority with the Letters of that Patriarch , and perhaps that he might without disturbance imploy his time and pains in the confutation of Florinus and Blastus , two Presbyters of that Church , but excommunicate , ( whose falling into the heresie of Valentinus so grieved the good man , that it occasion'd him to d d Theod. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . lib. 1. seci . Florinus , & Blastus . write his books against that heresie which we now have ) And that he went this Journey , I am perswaded by e e apud Dr. Caves life of Iren. p. 165. Eusebius and St. Hierome , whatever the acut Valesius says to the contrary .

II. At his return from the East , he was chosen successor to Pothinus ( who had been Martyred in his absence ) in a dangerous time , that needed a man of spirit and courage , of learning and piety , the persecution raging violently without , and the Church being as furiously assaulted within , by Marcus , one of the Scholars of Valentinus , of whom whereas f f Not. in Euseb. p. 200. Scaliger wonders , that neither Eusebius , nor Hierome make any mention , yet not only g g lib. 1. cap. 8 , & 9. Irenaeus himself and h h Praescript adv. haeres . cap. 29. Tertullian names him with Heracleon and Colarbasus , the upholders of the School of the Gnosticks , but also i i lib. 4. c. 10. Vide Theodoret. ubi supr. in Marco . Eusebius gives his Character , and St. k k Ep. 29. to . 1 p. 198. & comment . in Isa. 64. f. 112. D. Hierome avers , that he was a Scholar of Valentinus , and first brought that heresie into France , into those parts of the Country , through which the Rhoan and the Garonne run , and thence passing the Pyrenée Mountains he went into Spain , and that his chief employment was by Magick , and other lustful privacies , to creep into the houses of great men , and debauch their Wives , Women , who are led about with divers desires , always learning , but never coming to the knowledge of the truth .

III. And here it may not be amiss to observe , that the greatest enemies to Christianity have been Satans privadoes , and admitted to some more familiar intimacies than ordinary , with the Prince of Darkness ; and this will visibly appear , if we inspect the Catalogues of the Primitive Hereticks , or the lives of the Emperors , who were the most active persecutors of the interests of Jesus , whom we shall find acted by a more than humane impulse to uphold the reputation and grandeur of that tottering and ruinous Kingdom . The first disturbers of the Churches peace , and introducer of damnable Dogmata , was Simon Magus , whose name bespeaks what acquaintance he had with the Devil ; nor were his followers any more averse from his practices , than his principles ; a a Theodor. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . lib. 1. sect. Simonis haeresis . their chief imployment lying in Charms , Philtres , Amulets , and such magical and unlawful Mysteries ; his most active and acute Disciple was Menander , a b b Id ubi suprà . Aug. de haeres . c. 6. Tertull. praescript . ad fin . Euseb. lib. 3. c. 20. Iren. l. 1. c. 21. Master also in this infernal Art ; after whom were Saturninus and Basilides his Scholars , the first the more open villain , and a plain asserter of his Masters heresies , but the other a more close and busie Proctor for Satan , being a great pretender to abstruse and undiscovered Mysteries , but c c Euseb. l. 4. cap. 7. Theodoret. ubi supr. sect. Basil . both equally enslaved by the Devil to become his Vassals ; Basilides especially being a great trader in Amulets , which he gave his deluded Proselytes , the form of which you may see in Baronius append . ad To. 2. an. 120. In these steps did d d Gaius apud Euseh . lib. 3. c. 22. Cerinthus walk , and e e Id. l. 4. c. 7. Iren. l. 1. c. 24. Carpocrates , who blasted Religion with his venomous breath , had an assistant Daemon , and gloried , that he kept those spirits in subjection , whose son f f Theod. ubi supr. sect. Carpocrat . Epiphanes , and the rest of his followers , grew dextrous in those instances of their skill .

IV. Thus the first family of the Gnosticks grew up , and became strong and formidable , till it was supplanted , or rather engrossed by the Valentinians ; g g Theod lib. 1. sect. Valentinus . Valentinus deriving his heresie from Simon Magus and Menander , and of whom we may judge , what his course of life was , whose instructors were Magicians , and Scholars of the same trade , such as were Marcus ( of whom hereafter ) and Heracleon , who taught his Disciples Charms wrapt up in Hebrew , and other obsolete words , h h Aug. de haeresib . c. 16. and how to anoint their dead with oyl , balsom and water , and a set form of invocation . From this Valentinus the Ophitae deriv'd themselves , says i i l. 1. c. 3. vid. & Tert. de praescript . ad fin . Theodoret. ubi supr. sect. Ophit . Aug. ubi sup. c. 17. Irenaeus , who ador'd a Serpent , which by the inchantments of the Priest was train'd out of his Den to ascend the Altar , where he rowl'd himself round the Oblations , and lickt them , which were afterward distributed to the deluded multitude , as the only true consecrated Elements of the Eucharist . The followers of Marcus were the Tascodrungitae , says k k ubi supr. sect. Ascodrytae . & Iren. lib. 1. c. 18. Theodoret , and they also poured oyl and water on the heads of their dead , that they might be invisible , and by that means rendred more excellent , and better , than the Spiritual and Angelick powers . As l l Theoddib . 2. sect. Elcesaitae . the Disciples of Elcesai were also ensnared by Astrology , and Magick , by Charms , and Invocations . m m Euscb . l. 4. c. 10. Cerdon and Marcion were in the like manner ill addicted , and n n Socrat. kist . l. 1. c. 22. Lat. 17. Manes's Tutor Buddas was carried by his familiar into the air , whence falling headlong the wretch perisht ; and his o o Theed . ubi supr. praef. & l. 1. sect. Manes . Pupil was a practiser of all unlawfull arts ( 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in Theodoret ) and such were all his followers , and among the Marcionites of his time the same p p Ibid. sect. Marcion . Father says , he found a brass Serpent , an Amulet doubtless , laid up in a Chest among many other abominable mysteries , as q q De p●ae script . c. 30. Tertullian justly impeac●es the Father of that Sect of too much curiosity , and an unquiet head . And by such an evil spirit were Montanus and his Prophetesses acted , and among his Followers a a Apollinar . apud Euseb. lib. 5. cap. 15. Theodotus was lifted into the Air by his Familiar , from whence he fell down and perish'd . And may we not say that many of the Miracles of the Romish Church owe their Original to this Author , since many of their seemingly most devout and inspired Nuns have been at last convicted to have been Witches ? So true is that observation of the b b Tert. de praescr . p. 40. F. G. edit. Rhen. African Father , that the greatest acquaintances which the Hereticks made , was with Sorcerers and Juglers , with Astrologers and the lovers of curious Arts , and that we may judge of the exellencies of their Faith by the Debaucheries of their Conversation . Nor was it without reason , that S. Paul , 1 Tim. 4.1 . calls the Gnostick Opinions , the Doctrine of Devils .

V. And as these persecuted the Christian Church with their Tongues , so those that employed their Authority by severe and cruel Edicts to extirpate the holy Faith , were much inclined to these acquaintances . The first declared Enemy of Jesus among the Emperours , was Nero , who on the head of all his other insufferable qualities , that made him a burthen to the Earth , and a heavy curse to mankind , was a great c c Plin. nat. hist. lib. 30. c. 2. practiser of Magick , with which he was as much bewitcht , as with his love of Musick , being acted , and led , in his biggest and most weighty concerns , by the Counsels of Tiridates , a man famous in that way . These next was Domitian , a Monster that boggled at no Crime , who d d 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Zosim . hist. l. 1. p. 5. ed. Steph. out-doing his all Predecessors in Cruelty , Luxury , and Covetousness , was the Author of the second Persecution ; and though the Historians tell us , that he banisht the Philosophers and Mathematici from Rome , yet e e In Domit . sect. 14 , & 15. Suetonius is my Author , that he was studious of these devilish mysteries . Trajan doubtless was a Prince of a very sweet temper , and most excellent Virtues , but a prostrate admirer of the Heathen superstitions ; though his persecution seems to have commenc'd against the Christians , not so much on Religious , as Politick grounds , because their hetaeriae , or meetings , ( which look'd suspiciously , by reason of their numbers , and the place , and time of their conventions , before day , and in their Coemeteria under ground ) seem'd to threaten the peace , and quiet of the Common-wealth , for which reasons he not only forbad such Conventions among the Christians , but expresly declares his dislike of erecting any new Corporation among his Heathen Subjects , the frequenters of which Hetaeriae without licence f f Ulpian . lib. 6. de Offic. Procons . F. lib. 47. tit. 22. l. 2. were adjudged by the Roman Laws to be guilty of High Treason , equally with those , who by force and arms seized a Temple , or any other publick place . The fourth Persecution broke out under Adrian a g g Tert. Apol. c. 6. excerpt . Dionis apud Valesium . p. 714. Prince infinitely addicted to the Pagan Rites , coveting all occasions of being initiated into their mysteries , a searcher into all sorts of curiosities , and strangely in love with Magick . M. Aurelius Antoninus begun the fifth persecution , or rather the inraged Gentiles under him ( for that he himself by his express edicts begun a persecution , both h h Apol. c. 5. Tertullian , and i i Hist. lib. 5. c. 1. Eusebius deny ) who though a most admirable , and accomplisht Prince , ( and one , that profest himself an Infidel to prodigious stories , done by charms , and the assistance of Daemons , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . init . and therein perchance ubraids the Christians , who in his time wrought miracles , and dispossest Daemoniacks , ) yet was early , and in his Infancy initiated by his Patron Adrian a a Capitolin . in Marco . , being at eight years old , made a member , and afterward a Priest of the Salian Colledge , of which at last he became President . He carefs'd the Philosophers of that Age , who most of them were studious of Magick , though they would not own it , having a particular dependance on that Impostor ; b b Lucian . To. 1. Pseudomant . p. 493. Alexander in the expedition against the Marcomanni ( his Colleague Lucius Verus being a great cherisher of the Magic in his inroad into Parthia , many of whom he brought with him from Babylon to Rome at his return ) nay so fond are the Heathen writers of this his acquaintance , c c Dio in M. Aurel. Claudian in 6. Honorii Consulat . l. 1. vide Baron . Tom. 2. an. 176. p. 217 , 218. that they are content to falsifie the truth of the story of that Expedition , to gratifie their own humor , that they may Father the Famous attempt of the Legio Fulminatrix in that War , some on the skill of Arnupthis a Magican of Aegypt , who by invocating Mercury , and other Daemons , procur'd that Rain ; others on Julian another Magician of that Age.

VI. Of Severus I must profess , I can meet with no account , that he either was addicted himself , or cherisht others , that lov'd these Arts ; but the d d Spartian . in Severo . Historians tell us , that he was crafty and subtle , and withall very cruel , and without doubt must have been acted by a very violent and extraordinary impetus , or he could not so suddenly have been alter'd from being a great favourer to become a vigorous persecutor of Religion . e e Herod . l. 7. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Pompon . Mela , lib. 2. sect. Thracia . Viros benignius alit Thracia , non ad speciem tamen : nam & illis asper , atque indecens corporis habitus est . Maximinus was a robust , and brutish person , a man of unsatisfied cruelty , and barbarous manners , a perfect Thracian , as rude and unpolisht as his Country , which was never fitted to produce any thing polite , and acceptable , but cherisheth inhabitants like it self , rough-hewn , and ugly . He begun the seventh persecution , not out of any respect to the Rites of Gentilism , for he had no Religion in him , but out of f f Euseb. l. 6. c. 21. hatred to his Predecessor Alexander Severus , who had cherisht the Christians . But g g Hist. sacr. l. 2. Sulpitius Severus denies this to have been one of the ten persecutions . The Decian persecution begun first at Alexandria , h h Dionys. Alex . Ep. Fabio Antioch . apud Euseb. l. 6. c. 34. where the multitude were enraged to mischief the Christians , by the perswasions of an Aegyptian Magician , and probably the infection thence spread it self to Carthage , and so over the rest of the Empire , till it was confirm'd by a solemn Edict . The same Villain , being afterward the boutefeau , that inflamed as i i Tom. 2. an. 252. p. 444. & an. 257. p. 556. Baronius Valerian probably conjectures ( and by whose instruction k k Id. an. 234. p. 416. Plotinus was acquainted with those dark , and unlawful mysteries ) for the Palace of that Prince was a kind of Church , it was so throng'd with Christians , till that l l Dion . Ep. Hermam . apud . Eus. l. 7. c. 10. Archmagician practised him to prosecute the holy men , as the greatest Monsters on Earth , men of profligate vices , and insufferable opinions . The ninth persecution a a De C. D. lib. 18. c. 52. S. Austin , who omits that under Adrian , places under Aurelian , who was a great admirer of Apollonius Tyanaeus that noted Conjurer , to whom b b Vopisc . in Aurelian . vide Fulv. Visin . illustr. Imag. & not . in Vopisc . p. 516. he erected Statues , and promist to build a Temple , and whose image he caus'd to be stampt on his Coyn.

VII . And when all these contrivances would not succeed , but the death of the Martyrs increased the number of Confessors , Dioclesian and his immediate Successors made the last Essay in behalf of dying Paganism , c c Vit. Constant . l. 2. c. 49 , 50. Constantine himself relating , that what gave an occasion to that most furious persecution , was the Oracle of Delphos , that accused the just men of the Earth of hindring its giving answers , which good men , when one of the Priests had told him were the Christians , he presently set out his Edicts to root them out of the Earth ; and the same courses were taken by his followers . d d Euseb. Hist. l. 8. c. 27. Maximinus was a great cherisher of the Magicians , and other Impostors , being naturally fierce , and superstitious , not daring to undertake the least action without consulting an Oracle . So also was e e Vit. Gonstant . lib. 1. c. 10. Maxentius , and f f Eus. Hist. l. 9. c. 8. & Vit. Constant . l. 1. c. 4. Licinius . And when Julian in vain strove to deceive mankind by restoring the Heathen Sacrifices presently on his assuming the Empire , his Court swarm'd with these infects , himself not being unacquainted with this sort of Learning , g g Tom. 5. Orat. 6. in S. Babyl . p. 459. S. Chrysostom expresly calling him a Magician , and the h h Gedren . compend . in Juliano . Mich. Glye . Annal. part 4. apud Baron . Tom. 4. p. 129. later Greek Historians tell us , that he kept a Familiar , whom he used to send on messages , and more particularly in his last expedition into Persia . And as soon as he had publish'd his Rescripts for the reparation of the Idol Temples , the erection of the ruined Altars , and retriving the disused Ceremonies , i i Chrys. ubi supr. his palace was of a sudden filled with Inchanters , Augures , and men of that Classe ; such were Maximus his Tutor , Priscus , and Chrysanthius his darlings , that followed him to the Wars of Persia , and in truth Apuleius , Plotinus , Porphyry , and Jamblichus , and the rest of that Tribe , in imitation of their Master k k Philostr . Vit. Apollon. apud Phot. Cod. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 540. Pythagoras , can never clear themselves from this imputation . S. l l de vera relig. c. 4. Augustine positively averring , that all the Platonists that did not turn Christians , did turn Magicians . It was not therefore without reason , that m m Adv. Hermogen . Tertullian called the Philosophers , the Patriarchs of the Hereticks , for from them was it that Valentinus suck'd his poyson , from them that Marcus his Follower took his hints , whom I have reserv'd till the last , that we might see some Instances of his skill .

VIII . That venerable and Divine Man , ( whose name n n L. 1. c. 12. Irenaeus conceals ) smartly chastises him in his Poem , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. calling him a maker of Idols , and hunter after Miracles , a great Astrologer , and notorious Magician , who to deceive the World did strange things by the help of Satan , and was the Fore-runner of Antichrist ; and S. Irenaeus's whole ninth Chapter is spent on this subject , in which we find , that by a long form of Invocation he would cause the Wine of the Eucharist to appear of the colour of a deep red , that he had an Assistant Daemon , that did enable him to prophesie , and to communicate that Spirit of madness and folly to as many as he did breath on ; that he engaged that his Followers should know more than the Apostles , and should not be defiled by any thing they did , teaching them charms , how to escape invisibly from the hands of the Judge when apprehended , allowing even the Women to consecrate the Eucharist , and making them Prophetesses ; among which easie and perswasible Sex most Hereticks have pitch'd their Tents : Vide Hieron , adv. Pelag. ad Ctesiphont . Tom. 2. p. 256. So Simon Magus had his Helena , Carpocrates his Marcellina , Ptolomaeus his Flora , Apelles his Philumena , Marcion his Female Harbingers to prepare his reception at Rome , Montanus his Prisca , and Maximillae Elcsai , his Marthus and Marthana , Paulus of Samosata his Mistress , Donatus his Lucilia , Priscillian his Galla , the Arians had their greatest numbers among the Court-Ladies , the Nicolaitans and the Disciples of Eustathius of Sebastia were most Women , and the opinion of the Collyridians , was a a Epiphanhaer . 79. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Female Heresie .

IX . Sect. 3. p. 60. the Marginal Note , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , should be set not where it is ( as if the Tractate of the Apostles preaching ad Marcianum , were the same with that de scientia ) but higher , for the Volume adversus gentes , and that de scientia , were the same , says b b Hist. lib. 5. cap. 25. L●t . Eusebius , a very short but very useful Discourse . His Church-History , mentioned by Volaterran , was doubtless a mistake of the meaning of the same Historian , who uses only his Books adversus Hareses , yet extant ; as that of his Comment on the Revelation also had its Original from a mistake of S. Hierom , who only says , that Irenaeus interpreted the Revelation , i. maintained the Chiliast Opinion , whose Foundation is laid in that Prophecie , as he does largely in the end of his fifth Book ; and though here Mr. H. dislike the judgment of Sixtus Senensis , yet on the same grounds does he entitles S. Justin the Martyr to a like Tractate .

X. And I could heartily wish that we had only lost those imaginary Volumes , and that his other most excellent Writings had not perisht to the detriment of the Church of God and the Common-wealth of Learning ; by which unhappy fate we are depriv'd of all his Epistles ( the fragments of that Writ to Pope Victor excepted ) especially that Epistle to Blastus de Schismate , which would have been so useful to this Age , as would also his Discourses de Monarchia , & de Ogdoade against Florinus and his darling Opinion , ( which I fear , under a cleaner Masque hath appeared in this Age also ) that God is the Author of sin . And here the observation of c c Apud Chemnit. Loc. Commun . part . 1. sect. de causis peccati . p. 145. Nicephorus is very remarkable , that besides the Persecutions that harass'd the Church , the Devil made use of three very subtle Methods to ruine Christianity . 1. Because the prodigious performances of the Son of God were a great confirmation of the Truth and Divinity of his Doctrine , he opposed the Impostures of Simon Magus and Apollonius of Tyana to the Miracles of Christ . 2. Because the holiness of our Saviour's Life and Precepts was a great perswasive to incline the World to Conversion ; he introduc'd into the most sacred Offices of Religion all sort of Impurities and Lusts , by his Instruments the Gnosticks and Cataphrygians , who adopted their Vices into the number of their Mysteries ; and to whom the promiscuous Mixtures , Incests , and Eating the Blood of Men , which were unjustly laid to the charge of the Primitive Christians , must be attributed . 3. And lest this also might not do , that he might incline the World to be careless and vile , he by Blastus , Florinus , and Marcion , gave being to the Opinion , that God was the Author of sin , that so he might supersede all Laws , and enervate the force and vigour of all the Divine Injunctions .

XI . In the end of the Tract de Ogdoade , Irenaeus adjures his Transcriber , by the coming of Jesus to Judgment , diligently to compare his Copy with the Original ; an Obtestation so sacred , that not only Eusebius takes ●rotice of it in his History , and S. Hierom in his Catalogue ; but the former prefixes it to ●●e first Book of his Chronicon , and the latter to his Translation of the same Book , as Ruffinus hath also another such for sense , though not for words , in the Preface to his Translation of Origen , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , requiring his Transcriber neither to add to , nor diminish , nor change any thing in it , but to correct it by the Original , and accordingly to publish it ; and in after Ages a a Usher . Epist. Hebernic . sylloge . p. ●● . Adamnanus hath such an admonition at the end of his Book of the life of S. Columb ( a charge like that of Quintilian ad Tryphonem bibliopolam , and b b Ad fin . Apolog. Thesium . D● . Reynolds's ad transmarinos typographos admon tio● and may we not take leave to suppose , that Irenaeus , who was a Scholar to Papias and Polycarp , S. John's Disciples , did herein imitate that Apostle , who closes his c c Apoc. 22.18 , 19. Apoculypse with the like solemn Obtestation .

XII . And I could heartily wish that we had the Greek Copy of those Books that are left , for I know no more of this Father extant in the Language that he writ in , than what we have in Epiphanius , Eusebius , Theodoret , &c. ( for no man is now so vain to imagine that Irenaeus writ in Latine ) although Callasius in his Epistle Dedicatory before his Edition of this Father , and d d Orat. delect . Patrum . init . Chemnitius affirm , that the Greek Copy had been seen in the Vatican , and another read at Venice by some learned and good men , who when they came to look for the Book a second time , found the place empty ; which Relation , if true , as Gallasisius more than once mentions it , no punishment were too big for such curs'd Villains and Plagiaries . For could the World be so happy , we should see how disingenuously , or rather ignorantly , his Latine Translator hath d●a't with him , dressing his Notions in a style so obscure and rugged , so full of Solecisms , and barbarous expressions , that they not only sully the Beauty , but cloud the meaning of this great man , whose modesty , though it inclined him to make an a a Pref. l. 1. Apology for his style , as if it were plain and unrhetorical , yet to him that reads the passages , which Epiphanius against the Valentinians repeats out of him in his own Native Language , his style will appear , though not affected , yet very elegant , without that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that sublimity which some men would require , but not without that gravity , clearness , and perswasiveness that became a Philosopher on so abstruse a subject .

XIII . I find it the peculiar happiness of S. Irenaeus among the Ecclesiastical Writers , that anciently no other Writings were father'd on him , than what were genuinely his ( unless we shall say that he has been abus'd by ome , b b Vid. Phot. cod . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 16. & not . Hae●chel . p. 923. imputing to him , as others do to Justin Martyr , and a third sort to Josephus , that Tractate which is truly the Comm●nt●ry of Gajus , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) there being scarce one besides him of all the Sages of the Church , that hath not been imposed upon by the bastard issue of some other men . A Crime too notorious to be excused , and of which we may say , what c c Hist. lib. 1. p. 413. Tacitus does of the profession of Astrology at Rome , That it always will be forbidden , but always practised . A Design that seems to intimate a great deal of Bounty , but betrays an intention of Robbery , of debasing the value , and impairing the reputation of a worthy man , by thus exposing him to the censures of the World in a picture drawn by a wrong hand , and martyring him again in Effigie ; destroying noble Writers , as Witches do those whose persons they cannot reach , by venting their malice against an Image , which themselves have molded . The undertaking hath been of long standing , and may now plead gray hairs and custom ; but well it would be with the Interests of Learning and Piety ; if all such men fell under the chastisement of Theodiscus , d d Apud Genebr . Chrer . lib. 3. an. 657. whom Vasaeus in his Spanish Chronicle mentions , who being the Arch-Bishop of Sevil , and Primate of Spain , was deposed by his Fellow-Bishops , for setting out some pieces of his own under the name of his Predecessor Isidorus Hispalensis in the Arabick Version of his works , not to wish them the fate of e e Gallon . respons. ad monac . Benedict . p. 32 Cicarellus , who was hang'd at Rome , and afterwards his body burnt for the like Forgery .

XIV . And here I think it convenient to repeat what others have observed before me , that the Devil in destroying the Church hath followed the Method of the Creed ; in the first 300 years he instigated the Followers of Simon Magus , Menander , Basilides , Marcion , and others , to deny and oppose the first Article concerning God the Father . In the next three Centuries by the Followers of Sabellius , Photinus , and Arius , to contradict the Divinity of Christ . After the year 400 he combated the Doctrine of the Incarnation , Passion and Resurrection by Nestorius , Entyches , Dioscorus , and others . After the year 800 the Procession of the holy Ghost was disputed in the Greek Church : since that , the nature of the Catholick Church , and the power of Remission of sins , by the Papists , and Anabaptists , &c. the Resurrection of the Body by the Socinians , and the life everlasting by the modern Sadducees .

XV. Among the memorable sayings of this Father , Mr. H. p. 69. reckons his denying an uninterrupted succession of Bishops to be a mark of the true Church . ( Of which there is not a word in the place of Irenaeus , that Mr. H. quotes ) the Assertion it self aff onting the Judgment of the ancient Catholick Church , who makes a continuance of Episcopal Government to be necessary to the Integrity of a Church , and so does a a Lib. 3. c. 3. & l. 4. c. 43. Irenaeus himself , advising all good Christians only to obey such Apostolical men , but to shun those that cannot deduce themselves from this regular succession , as Hereticks and Schismaticks ; the mistake only lyes in this , that a Church without this continued series of Prelates may be a true Church in Essence and Nature , but cannot be entituled to Integrity and Perfection ; Salvation may be had in that Assembly , though they want that Government which is of Divine Institution , the retention of which sacred Order among us , hath extorted this confession from the mouth of a b b Cudsemius de desperata Calvini caus . c. 11. Jesuit , that the Church of England is not heretical , because it maintains a succession of Prelates .

XVI . Irenaeus's Opinion of Christs ignorance of the day of Judgment , is well vindicated by c c p. ●74 . Gallasius in his Nores on that place ; others of the erro●●ou● Opimons of the Father we have apologiz●d for in our Memo●●s of S. Justin the Martyr , and for his peculiar opinion concerning the age of Christ , D. d d Life of Iren. Sect. 10. p. 170. Cave and e e Part. 2. l. 2. c. 4. p. 191. Scrivener aga●●st Daillée have satisfied all mod●st Inquirers . ●n those words of his , lib. 3 c. ●1 . that seem to imply , as if the two Nat●res in Christ were mixt and confused , which was afterward the Heresie of A●ollinaris , and Eutyches , ( against whom Theodoret expresly writ his second Dialogue ) the holy man without doubt means no more , but the Union of the two Natures ; for so lib. 4. c. 37. he explains himself , joyning commixtio , & communio Dei , & hominis together ; and lib. 5. c. 2. blaming the Ebionite Hereticks for denying this truth : his next error , that Satan never blasphem'd God till the Incarnation of Christ , for which he quotes Justin Martyr , is meant of his doing it not openly , but under a Masque [ as under the form of a Serpent he trepan'd Adam ] not by himself , but by his Instruments that profess Religion , and yet abuse the Author of it , such as were the Marcionites , and Valentinians , whom he mentions , who called themselves Christians , yea the purer sort of Christians , Gnosticks , and yet blasphemed God . Nor do we find among the Jews , who before the Incarnation of Christ were the peculiar people of God , any Heresie which opposed that Article , that the Creator of the World , who Commission'd the Prophets , should also send his Son ; which Opinion Irenaeus lays at the door of Valentinus , and his Tribe , who distinguisht between God the Father , and the Demiurgus , or the Creator of the World ; nor is his reason altogether indefensible , ( quippe nondum sciens suam damnationem ) because the Devil did not as yet expresly know his sentence , the Father seeming to allude to that opinion of a a Ad. Eph●● . p. 45. Ed. Usher . S. Ignatius , which was afterward generally imbrac'd , that the Incarnation and Crucifixion of our Saviour , and Virginity of his Mother , were hid from the cognizance of Satan ; so that he might believe that the general promises of a Redeemer given to the Old World , might as well reach to him , as to the Sons of Adam , till the Incarnation of Jesus made it appear to the contrary ; and that then seeing his estate remediless , he fell into a like rage with those who are condemn'd by the Law ; who , says b b Ubi sup● . Irenaeus , blame not themselves , but the severity of the Judge , and the rigour of his proceedings .

XVII . His discourse of Enoch , l. 3. c. 30. that he was Gods true servant without the badge of Circumcision , or observation of the Sabbath , no man I hope questions ; and for what is added , that being yet in the flesh ( Dei legatione ad Angelos fungebatur ) he was sent on an Embassie to the Angels , had we any thing to countenance the conjecture , beside the respect we bear to this great man , I would say it was a mistake of the Translator , and that the words in Irenaeus's Greek might be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which will bear the old Version , but to me will be thus rendred better , And having been Gods Ambassadour , i. a Preacher of Righteousness to the old World , he went to the Angels , and was translated , where he is kept as a witness of Gods Judgment on those fallen Spirits : which words may be supposed to ●elate to that common Opinion among the Fathers , that Enoch with Elias are translated into Paradise in their mortal bodies ; and that in the end of the world they shall both come again to preach Repentance to mankind , and reduce them from the service of Antichrist , to the worship of the true God , and shall be martyred at Jerusalem , and after three days rise again , and then ascend into Heaven ; which Opinion I take not upon me to defend , but only to give a bare Narration of ; this is expresly averr'd by c c De anima c. 28. & de resurrect. p. 31 I. Edit. Rhen. Tertullian , and the d d P. 290. Author of the Book de montibus Sinai , and Sion under the name of Cyprian ; but , says Pamelius , of some other African Author of that Age ; e e To. 1 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 149. Saint Chrysostome , it 's true , professes his ignorance herein , but S. f f De genes. ad liter . l. 9. c. 6. Austin is of Tertullians Opinion , as several others of the Fathers , as they are quoted by g g To. 1. contr. 3. l. 3. c. 6. Cardinal Bellarmine .

XVIII . For his Doctrine , that the Souls of the best men are not received into Heaven , properly so called , till the day of Judgment , but that they are kept in some certain Receptacles , where God only knows ; which place of happiness is sometimes called Paradise , at other times Abraham's Bosom , where those that reside are ( sustinentes resurrectionem , in our barbarous translation ) in expectation of the Resurrection , or ( aeternitatis candidati , as Tertullian stiles them ) Candida●es of Immortality , was the general belief of the Primitive Ages of the Church ; for besides Irenaeus , I find it the Opinion of Tertullian , Clemens Romanus , Justin Martyr , Origen , H●●●ry , Austin , Chrysostome , Ambrose , Theodoret , Victorinus , Prudentius , Aretas , Anast●sius Sinaita , Theophylact , Oecumenius , Euthymius , and S. Bernard , and h h Vide Spalatens . l. 5. c. 8. n. 97 , 98. and Ushers Answ. to the Jes . Sect. of prayer to Saints , p. 43⅔ . Gennad . de dogmat . Eccles. c. 78. in truth , among the Fathers , of whom not ? and who is there among the sober Protestants , that asserts that the happiness of the Saints is the same at their death , that it shall be after their Resurrection ? Were it so , our Church hath done very ill in her Office at Burials , to pray , That we , together with all the departed in the Faith , and sear of God , may have our perfect consummation , and bliss in that Eternal Kingdom . Irenaeus calls this Station an invisible place , because it is unknown to us , the departed being in Gods hand , in some estate of happiness , but neither in misery , nor perfect glory ; and that this is the Opinion of Calvin , and Peter Martyr , i i Annotat. in Act. 3.31 . Sir Norton K●atchbul hath made good , telling us , that the contrary assertion hath no foundation either in the Scriptures , the Fathers , or Reason .

XIX . And having thus vindicated this Reverend Antient from the Objections made against these five Books Adversus Haereses , which k k Cod. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 162. Photius , as I understand him , clears from any Heterodox Assertions ( since it is not of them , but of his other Volumes and Epistles , that that acute Critick says , the exact truth of the Opinions of the Church is debas●d by spurious reasonings ) let us commit this Honourable Servant of God to his rest , who now wears that white Robe which was washt in his own blood ; Omnium doctrinarum curiosissim●s explanator . Tert. adv. Valentin . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Theodoret . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . l. 1. Sect. de Menandro . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Id. praefat . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Id. l. 1. in Carpocrate . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Id. in Florino . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Id. l. 2. in Nazar . non longè à temporibus Apostolorum . Aug. contr. Julian . l. 1. c. 2. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Photii cod . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 161. Vide testim . Eccles. Lugdun . apud Euseb. l. 5. c. 4. & Hier. in Catal. &c. and it is my sorrow , that none of the Antients have given him his due Character , that I might have entertain'd my Reader with some of their raptures concerning him ( who is only here and there in the writings of the Fathers mention'd with respect , and a short Character , but what falls abundantly below his Merit . ) He was beheaded for the Cause of Christ , An. 20● . says Baronius , or as Doctor Cave thinks , seven years after , at the expedition of Severus into Britain ; a larger account of which Martyrdom I was incourag'd to expect , when l l Not. in Martyrol . Rom. Jun. 28. Baronius told me it was extant in the Vatican Library , till m m Annal. To. 2. An. 205. p. 330. himself , whether being mistaken in his first Assertion , or forgetting it , affirms , that the Acts of his Passion are quite lost ; his Festival in the Latin Church , being celebrated on the 28th of June , in the Greek on the 23. of Aug.

THE LIFE OF S. Clemens OF ALEXANDRIA .

I. THe name of St. Clemens , from all the lovers of Learning , sacred or prophane , commands reverence , and a submissive veneration ; who hath deserv'd to be stiled 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( as the learned Montague somewhere stiles him ) The most accomplisht Historian , and the acutest Scholar , which the early ages of the Church could boast of , in whom the genius of Pantaenus discover'd it self , under whom he was bred at Alexandria , where after a while he became a Catechist in that famous School , and a Successor to his Master who was not the first who after the Apostles exercis'd that office there , as Mr. H. Sect. 1. p. 80. affirms out of B. Rhenanus ( for therein that acute Scholar was mistaken ) but rather had many predecessors , a a Hist. lib. 5. c. 10. Eusebius declaring , that Pantaenus in the First year of the Emperor Commodus undertook this employ at Alexandria , in which place , by a very ancient custom , there was a School open'd to teach the sacred Learning in ( i. e. the Creed , the Decalogue , and Lords Prayer were there explain'd , says b b Chronol. lib. 3. an. 196. Genebrard ) and which was continued to his time , and managed by many an excellent person skill'd in all polite literature and eloquence , and in the knowledge of the Scriptures , which usage c c Catal. v. Pantaen . St. Hierome makes to commence from the first foundation of a Church there under St. Mark ( and that Mr. H. p. 81. confesses , which how it can be reconciled with his former assertion , I know not ) and it is probable , that it was one of the Schools of the Philosophers , that resided in that famous City , ( or perchance a Jewish Synagogue ) whose owners being made Christians , the School also was converted to this holy use ; for that ●t was a distinct place from the Church , is evident from d d vide Vales . not . in Euseb. l. 6. c. 19 , 20. Lat. Eusebius , as in truth it was sometimes undertook by those , who not being of the Clergy ( Origens youth incapacitating him for Holy Orders ) were prohibited to do any Holy Offices in the Church . So that Pantaenus doubtless had predecessors in this Office , unless we take on us to contradict all antiquity , or can think those words of e e Cod. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 160. Photius capable to solve it , who asserts , that Pantaenus not only converst with those who heard the Apostles , but was himself an Auditor of some of them , for if so , not certainly of St. Mark who died an . 63. 'T is true f f De Orig. templ . l. 3. c. 5. p. 92. Hospinian says , that some affirm the first erection of this School to have been an. 150. But that Epocha also is thirty years before the time , in which Eusebius makes Pantaenus the Catechist there .

II. However , we may affirm , that when so accomplisht a person read his Lectures there , his Auditory was fuller , his School better frequented , and its fame farther spread , than before ; so that its general reputation may be said to be owing to the learning and good conduct of Pantaenus , on whose death the School abated nothing of its lustre , because Clemens succeeded him , a miraculous proficient under so admirable a Master ; thought it seems probable to me , a a Vid. Dr. Cave's life of S. Clement sect. 4. p. 196. that he also supplyed his place during his absence in India , in that mission , which by the perswasion of Demetrius , Patriarch of Alex●ndria , 〈◊〉 was willing to undertake ; for Clemens was his bosom Disciple , and Pantaenas Clement darling Master , being the last in order , w●om he met with , for he ●ad been under b b Clem. Alex . paedag . lib. 3. p. 201 & ●useb . hest . l. 5. c. 11. many instructors , one in Gre●●ce , whom c c An●al . tom. 2. m. 185. p. 261 , 262. Baronius supposes to have been Dionysius Bishop of Corinth , or Caius ; another in Coelosyria , whom he conjectures to have been Theophilus , Patriarch of Antioch ; a third in the East , who was Bardesanes , or as others , Tatianus , Justin Martyr's Scholar ; a fourth in Palesline , who according to the Cardinal was Theophilus Bishop of Caesarea , according to Dr. Cave , and others , more probably Theodotus ; but the last he met with , was Pantaenus , under whose guidance he sat down , and went no further .

III. P. 81. Mr. H. a little too severely animadverts Dr. Heylin , who being a man of such prodigious parts , and infinite reading , could not be ignorant , that Pantanus was the name of this great Catechist and not Gautenus , as the Printer mistakes , ( who more than once hath abused that learned man by his negligence ) for should such slips be censured , what book is free ? I am sure not Mr H's , who p. 6. quotes Bennadius for Gennadius , and p. 9. Rhodignic for Rhodigine , and p. 421. in his Mantissa , Anastasus for Nacephorus but it is a poor employment with Domitian to hunt and stab flies , a little Christian charity and condescension , would oversee greater obliquities ; and I heartily wish , that with a thomand such Errata I could redeem my other Errors .

IV. The admission of St. Clemens to the Priesthood probably falls in with the beginning of the reign of Severus , a Prince , who was the riddle of the Christian world , who at first treated them with all the methods of kindness , condescension , and favour , and of a sudden , without cause , was so embittered against them , that he became a hot and implacable persecutor ; so intermixt were his vertues , and his vices . His Edicts were so severe , and his Officers so cruel , that the d d Judas Ch●n apud Euseb. lib. 6. c. 6. & Hier. Gat. v. Judas . Sacred Chronologers pen dropt out of his hand , and at this tragical period of time he fixes the Epocha of the great Antichrist . Thus the divine providence took care , that the Christians should be baptised with their Saviours baptisme , and drink of a bitter cup. And because the Piety of the Catholick Church was peculiarly employed in encouraging her children to a chearful taking up the Cross and following Jesus ; I will particularly enumerate some instances of her prudence and compassion , to enhance the price of a heavenly Crown , and depreciate life and liberty , honour and secular satisfactions , in comparison of the divine blessing ; for the Martyrs were the darlings of that age , and were treated with all imaginable vemeration and affection .

V. They made them frequent visits , while under restraint , ( when they were Martyrs only in designation ) neither the shame of their bonds , nor fear of being made their fellow prisoners could affright them from paying them the constant Offices of humanity and fraternal duty ( and a a Tertul. l. 2. ad uxor . p. 166. E. Edit. Rhen. the devout Visitants kist the Martyrs chains , and ●everenc'd his scars : So the b b Martyr . Polyc. p. 24. Church of Smyrna treated St. Polycarp just before his Martyrdome , and the c c Theod. hist. lib. 1. c. 11. & Socrat. lib. 1. cap. 8. great Constantine thought it not beneath him to fasten his sacred and Majestick lips to the hollow of the right eyes of Paphnutius and other famous Prelates in the Council of Nice , which had been bored out for their Testimony to the Truth ) this was d d Euseb. l. 6. c. 3. Origen's chief employment at Alexandria during the Persecution there , and so was the blest e e Chryst . to. 5. p. 502 , 503. Ignatius treated by all the adjacent Cities in his Jounrey to Rome , they spared no cost , if possible , to free the good men from confinement , if not to bribe their Keepers to permit them access ; and this the great Scoffer of Religion could not but remark ; f f Lucian . de mort . Peregrini . p. 996. for says he , As soon as ever the Impostor Peregrinus was cast into prison , you might observe at the door every morning Widows and Children , and people of all qualities , waiting to be admitted to see him ; many gave large bribes to his Keepers to stay with him all night , when variety of dainties were serv'd in for supper , after which they entertained themselves with their Holy discourses ; they sent Messengers from all the Cities of Asia to enquire of his health , to encourage and strengthen him , and many a rich present was brought him under the Masque of these Visits , and it is incredible , as he continues , what care and diligence the Christians exercise on such an occasion , if once it be made publick .

VI. The sacred discourses , which Lucian mentions , were doubtless those , wherein the Martyr , if a Priest , taught them by his example , and speeches a generous scorn of the World and Life , when they came in competition with the honour of Jesus and Religion , and a passionate love of Heaven ; or if not , those wherein the Lay-Confessors gave their brethren an account of their resolution , and begat in them the like thoughts ; or else , wherein the Deacon , who was bound to attend the Confessors , gave both them , and their Visitants holy Counsels , and furnisht them with incentives from all the perswasive Topicks he could use , to encline them honorably and with courage to finish their course , and these to an imitation of their gallantry and virtue . The Suppers were certainly their Love-feasts ( Agapae ) which they there celebrated , the expences whereof were born by the Church , and the voluntary contributions of every private well disposed Christian . Which Co●ections and Feasts , a a De Martyr , c. 1 , & 2. inter carnis alimenta , quae mater Ecclesia de uberibus suis , & singuli fratres de operibus suis propriis in carcerem subministrant . — quae justa sunt caro non amittit , per curam ecclesiae , & agapen fratrum . — Rhenan , in loc. pistor panem missitabat , calcearius calceos , telam textor , hanc fullo gratis curabat , consuebat vestiarius , pecuniam alius mittebat diurno labore collectam . Tertullian in his sober mode applauds , but in one of his transports of Montanisme , * * Tert. de jejun. p. 296. m. plane vestrum est in carceribus popinas exhibere martyribus , &c. severely decrys , objecting to the Catholicks , that they converted the Prison into a Tavern , where they were only restrain'd in name and show , but in truth injoyed there their Feasts and Baths , and all the volupruous conveniencies that could be desired . These Collections for their suffering Brethren were made every b b Just. M. apolog. 2. p. 97. & Cypr. de oper. & eleemos . p. 180. vid. Ep. 26 , p. 32. Lords day , besides an extraordinary Monthly gathering , as I am apt to understand c c Apolog. c. 39. Tertullian , and deposited in the hand of the Priest , who was the common Father of the Orphans , and Guardian of the Widows , and Almoner of the Poor , d d Cypr. Ep. 5. p. 12. Const. Apost. l. 5. c. 1. but above all the Treasurer of those that were in durance . And by this means the Candidates of Immortality were plentifully provided for with all sort of necessaries , and this found materials for their Agapae , which it is more than probable , were as at other times and places , preceded by the Eucharist , which the Christians of those early days often received , and was questionless long'd for , as a Viaticum for Eternity , by those holy Men. * * Aug. op. brevic . collat. cum Donatist . die . 3. c. 5.11 . And there also was Baptism frequently Administred .

VII . These compassionate Offices were many times perform'd by the Prelates of the Church , who personally discharg'd the duty . Vid. Cypr. Ep. 37. p. 43. So Onesimus , and other neighbor Bishops , waited on St. Ignatius at Smyrna from Ephesus , and the adjacent Cities ; sometimes the Presbyters , but f f Id. Ep. 11. p. 20. the Deacons of the Church were particularly employed in these Messages , to attend the Martyrs , to know and relieve their wants , that no Specimen of care and compassion might be omitted . And when the rage of the persecution made it dangerous for the Church-Officers to appear publickly , then the g g Liban . orat . de vinctis . p. 56. Deaconesses did those charitable Offices . And for those that were hindred from paying them their personal attendances , they not only passionately became suiters to the Martyrs for their prayers , when they came to Heaven , as h h Cypr. Ep. 16. p. 25. & deLaud . Martyr . p. 253. believing , that God would deny them nothing , but gave them the noblest assistances of their prayers for them i i

Id. Ep. 16. p. 24.

Vide Cypr. Epp. ad Confess . & Mart. Tertull. Exhort . ad Martyr . Orig. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c.

both night and day , in their publick and private devotion ; and withal sent them rational and Christian Exhortations to chear their minds , and raise their courage , in which with the most a a Tert. exhort . ad Mart. init . Cypr. de Laud. Mart. p. 252. &c. profound humility they express their sentiments , as if they were not worthy to make their Addresses to men so beloved of God .

VIII . And as the Church paid them constant Visits , so it allowed them the honour and priviledge of reconciling penitents , and admitted the Lapsi to the participation of the holy Ordinances without that solemn and strict penance , that else was required on their Testimony and recommendation ; for there was an honourable estimate set on all their writings , ( in as much as b b Catal. v. Pamphil. S. Hierom seems ravish'd with an uncommon joy , when he met with the works of the Martyr Pamphilus , because one Epistle from so sublime a Saint was preferrable to a Treasure ) the form of these Libels are to be seen in c c Ep. 17. p. 26. S. Cyprian , and it is also well known what a dispute arose in this very case between that excellent Prelate and Lucian , and some other pragmatical Confessors . Nor was the custom begun in the days of that African Father , but was as old as d d Exhort . ad Mart. init . & de pudicit . c. 22. Tertullian and e e Epist. Eccles. Vien . & Lugd. apud Euseb. lib. 5. c. 2. Irenaeus , the former of which Fathers sarcastically abuses the Church for this Indulgence .

IX . There was also a select order of men deputed to attend and record the acts of their passion , their Speeches , and demeanor , with all exactness and fidelity ; ( Notaries who purchas'd from the Secretary of the Proconsul , or some other Officer , a Copy of what passages commenc'd privately , but with an incredible agility and nimbleness writ down the account of the publick Transactions ; ) it is probably believed , that S. Clemens was the first that begun this custom , and for that end divided the City of Rome into seven Regions ( though in the Civil Notitia it contained twice as many ) and appointed the seven Deacons of that Church , who should either themselves be imployed to be Notaries , or oversee those who took care to Copy out the last discourses of the dying Confessors , which being reviewed by the Bishop of the See , were , as he thought fit , laid up in the publick Archives of his Church , which when so collected and allowed , were afterward digested into a Book ( which f f De Coron. c. 13. Tertullian calls , Census , & Fasti Ecclesiastici ) and in process of time the Martyrs of other Churches were admitted to a place in that Martyrology , every one recorded on the day of his passion , g g Greg. M. l. 7. Indict . 1. Ep. 29. till at last every day of the year had its peculiar Saint .

X. They were exactly curious in paying them their last respects , and the Ceromony of a solemn Funeral . It is true , that herein their Heathen Adversaries turn'd every stone to prevent these instances of their Love , and for the most part adjudged the reputed Criminals to the Fire , not so much because that was the highest degree of punishment , ( a a Tert. Exhortat . ad Mart. p. 167. L. Id. ad Scapul . c. 3. pro Deo vivo cremamur , quod nec sacrilegi , nec hostes publici , nec tot majestatis rei pati solent . summa ignium poena ) nor yet because they look'd on the holy men of that Age to be b b Baron . Not. ad Martyrolog. Febr. 27. p. 156. Magicians , and by an Assistant Daemon to perform their Miracles , and so punisht them c c Paul . lib. 5. sentent . rit. 23. accordingly ; but as I am inclin'd to believe , because the Christians should not collect their Ashes in order to a decent Burial , and to prevent what they saw was their constant practice , their caressing those remains of their sacred Predecessors with that veneration and respect which they constantly paid their Reliques . Thus d d Martyr . Polycarp . p. 27. & apud Euseb. l. 4. c. 14. they used their utmost endeavours to hinder the interrment of S. Polycarp , and what they then only intended , they punctually effected in the case of the French Martyrs of Lyons and Vien , e e Epist. Eccles. Lugd. apud Euseb. lib. 5. c. 1. & Aug. de cura pro mort . cap. 8. vide & Lactantii Instit. lib. 5. c. 11. & Sozom. lib. 5. c. 8. de Martyrio S.S. Eusebii , &c. Gazae . those imbitter'd Adversaries of theirs , not being content to have expos'd multitudes of the good men to the wild Beasts and the Flames , took whatever those cruel Executioners of Vengeance had spared , and first crumbled them into small pieces , then set a guard on them for six days , after which the Bodies having been so long publickly expos'd , and again burnt and reduc'd to Ashes , those very Ashes , not the least handful being rescued , were thrown into the River Rhosne , as if they would have studyed a way how not only to affront Christianity , but to baffle God , and hinder his Almightiness from giving them a Resurrection . But this bruitish Zeal of their Pagan Enemies engaged the Proselytes of Christianity to a greater studiousness and circumspection , in preventing these barbarous Attempts of their malice ; inasmuch as f f Cypr. Ep. 3. p. 10. & Ep. 37. p. 43. the Church threaten'd those men with the Divine Plagues , to whom the Duty did belong , if they neglected it ( for there was an order of men appointed for this Office of burying the dead , who were styled Copiatae , Fossarii , & Lecticarii , ( as there were devout men who carryed S. Stephen to his Grave , Act. 8.2 . ) and it seems by the g g Can. 81. fourth Council of Carthage , that the Paenitentes , those that were under the Discipline of penance , were employed in this Office , as in the Apostles days the Colledge of Widdows did it , Act. 9.37 , 39.

XI . And if at any time it had been known that any Christians had been crucified , where they were to hang ( not as among the Jews only till the Evening , but ) till the dead Bodies did rot and fall off , they spared no cost to redeem and bury those Bodies , as the Acts of the Martyrdom of S. Boniface testisie , ( nor was it an unusual custom among the Souldiers to sell the Bodies of Malefactors , ) and the Christians a a Ubi●supr . of Lyons and Vien complain , that when they had set all their Engines on work , they neither by entreaties nor offers could prevail to ransome their dead Brethren from the publick Ignominy to which they were exposed , that they might give them their Funeral Rites , and that this was the cause of their greatest trouble and sorrow .

XII . To this end they were very industrious in collecting their Reliques , b b Mart. Fructuosi & apud Baron . Tom. 2. an. 262. p. 634. they quench'd their half-burnt bones with Wine , and in that liquor wash'd the shattered Fragments of their torn Bodies ; they kist and reverenc'd those remains of their mortality ; ( by which Action in the Decian persecution Julian the Cappadocian was discovered to be a Christian , and for it hurryed to the flames ) then they embalmed what was left , as Joseph , Nicodemus , and the devout Women treated our Saviour ; ( and for c c Tert. Apol. c. 42. this purpose did bestow more mony with the Sabaeans , than the Romans did for all their Sacrifices ; and for it are sarcastically mock'd by d d In Aedes . p. 65. Eunapius , ) and if they were in holy orders , e e Lib. Pontif . in Eutychiano . they interr'd them in their Sacerdotal Vestments , they not only allowed them a place of Sepulture in their Coemeteries , ( which according to the Laws of the twelve Tables were to be without the Walls of the City ) where they obliged all good Christians to interre their dead , ( it being one Article against f f Cypr. Ep. 63. p. 9● . Martiaiis , Bishop of Astorga in Spain , that he had buried his deceas'd Sons in the Gentile Sepulchers , among men of a strange faith ) but a decent and honourable Tomb ; for their Coemeteries being both their Charnel-house , and in times of danger their Temples , g g Proleg . in Martyrol . c. 6. p. 9. & Tem. 2. an. 275. p. 687. vid. Ambr. lib. 10. Ep. 85. Tom. 3. p. 273. Baronius from that of the Revelation the 6th and 9th probably conjectures , their Graves were under the Altar , the most honourable place in the Church , near whom the h h Maxim . Taurinens . p. 2●7 . Edit. Raynand . & Aug. de ●ura pro mort passim . succeeding Servants of God were willing to lye , when they put off mortality , as the old Prophet would be buryed in the same Grave with the man of God , that upbraided Jeroboam , and decryed the Altar at Bethel , 1 Reg. 13.31 .

XIII . In these their Tombs they were deposited in expectation of a joyful Resurrection , every one with his particular Inscription , probably of his name , and employment in the Church of God , a breviate of his life , and particulars of his passion , and this the Ecclesiastick i i Euseb. l. 2. c. 24. Historian confirms , that there was in his time to be seen an Epitaph in the Coemeteries at Rome , containing the particulars of the Martyrdoms of the Apostles S. Peter and S. Paul , and before him k k Ibid. Cajus the Contemporary of Tertullian , says , That whoever would take the pains to go to the Vatican , and to the way that leads to Ostia , might see these Trophies of the Apostles ; and this is confirm'd by an ancient Table of stone found in the Coemetery of a a Apud Baron . not . in Martyr . Jan. 3. p. 18. Calistus , with this Title , Haec est notitia natalitiorum sanctorum hic requiescentium . Mens . Jan. die 3. Natalis S. Anteri Papae , &c. and that their fame might be adaequate to their merits , the Canons of holy Church took care to secure it by prohibiting all persons to speak ill of the Martyrs ; which Crime if any man durst impudently commit , b b Conc. Carth. 1. Can. 2. for the offence a Lay-man should be excommunicate , and a Clergy-man degraded .

XIV . These burying-places of theirs ( which in the Fathers and Martyrologies are called Arenaria , Cryptae , Concilia sanctorum , tumbae , catatumbae , polyandria , cryptae arenariae , and among the Africans frequently areae & areae sepulturarum ) were spacious and well-adorned Vaults , c c Tom. 2. an. 130. p. 85. Baronius describing that found out in the Via Salaria , three miles from Rome , which he had often seen , as if it were rather a City under-ground , De Coemeteriis consulas Baron . Tom. ● an. 226. p. 370. & P. Aringh . Roma subterran . than a Charnel-house furnish'd with variety of Apartments , and having divers ways and streets in it , and Oratories as well as Tombs , as what was fitted not only for a Sepulcher and a Chappel , but a City of refuge to the distress'd and persecuted Servants of God . At these memories of the Martyrs the devout Christians * * Martyr . Polyc. p. 28. Cypr. Ep. 31. p. 43. &c. used to meet on the Anniversaries of their Martyrdoms , which fell in with every day of the year , and were every day celebrated , as before we remark'd , except in the time of Lent , d d Conc. La●dicen . can . 51. & 52. when the solemn observation of those Festivals was confin'd to the Saturdays and Sundays in that time of Humiliation . The meeting at the Tombs of holy men was a general practice ; so the e e Hotting . cipp . Hebr. p. 26. vide Pocock . not . in port . Mos. p. 224. Jews use annually to meet at the Sepulchres of the Prophets , and there with their faces towards Jerusalem pray for a joyful resurrection , and so do the f f Id. Topograph . Eccles. or . c. 5. p. 149. Mahometans , and it was past into a Law by the August g g Vit. Constant . l. 4. c. 23. Constantine , that no man should be absent from these Conventions . It is true , the meetings at the Tombs of the Martyrs afterward ceast , and were translated to those Churches within the City , where the dead Bodies of those Saints were remov'd and interr'd by the Christian Emperours ; for in S. h h In Ezek. l. 12. c. 40. Hierome's time they were altogether unfrequented .

XV. But till the Age of Persecutions expir'd the i i Apostol. Const. l. 6. c. 30. Christians met at these Coemeteries , and there performed all the holy Offices of the Church , and for this reason their Heathen Adversaries , when they forbad their Conventions , k k Tert. ad Scapul . Pont. act. pass. Cypr. Euseb. l. 7. c. 10. expresly prohibit them the liberty of their Coemeteria , and in scorn l l Liban . p. 592. call them haunters of Tombs , but expresly m m Vid. Euseb. ubi supr. conceded them the liberty of meeting there , when their Fury was allayed . Here they enjoyed a freedom of Religion , when their other Oratories were not so secure , not so much because of the secrecy of the place , but because it was held a piece of a a Vid. Dr. Caves Primit . Christ . part 3. ch. 2. p. 280. unpracticable Barbarism to disturb and violate the Ashes of the Dead ; and yet sometimes so wild and intemperate was the Pagan Fury , and so inveterately were they bent against the Christian Martyrs , b b Tert. Apol. c. 37. that they would not permit their Graves to be a resting place to them , or the Habitations of Death a Sanctuary . In these places of privacy and sacred retirement they heard Sermons , and partook of the Churches Prayers , they sung their Eucharistical Hymns , and receiv'd the Sacraments , and made Collections for the poor , they recited the names of the Martyrs , and gave them their deserved Encomia , and severely c c Conc. Gangr . can. 20. vide & can. 11. censur'd all the Contemners either of the Meetings , or the holy Offices there perform'd . For he that hath attained unto this Crown , says the great d d Orat. ad sanct. coetum , c. 12. vide Chrys. Tom. 5. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 563. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Constantine , his piety is had in everlasting remembrance , and his bravery attended with an unsullyed glory ; the Church having thought fit to celebrate those Festivals with Psalms and holy Hymns , to the praise of God , to be Partakers of the Blessed Eucharist , and modest Feasts for the relief of the poor , the distrest , and Exiles , and whoso thinks these practices absurd , is an Enemy to the Divine and Sacred Discipline . Nay the very e e Conc. Laodic . can. 9. vide Optat. l. 6. contr. Parmen. de Donatistis . Hereticks themselves had their Coemeteria , and Martyria , where they also met , and where if any of the Orthodox were present , he was debar'd the Communion , and enjoyn'd penance by the Church .

XVI . That at these Coemeteries the wise and well-disciplined Christians us'd to offer up their Prayers is apparent from that of f f 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . lib. 13. cap. 7. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Where I cannot but wonder at the impudence of Scribanius . Orthod. fid. contr. 3. cap. 2. p. 13. that durst thus translate Eusebius , ad monumenta quoque illorum accedimus , votaque eis facimus tanquam veris sanctis . Eusebius , that it was the common custom of that Age to meet at the Tombs of the Martyrs , and there to offer their Devotions , and those g g Theod. de Cur. Graec. affect . Ser. 8. p. 121. very earnest Prayers attended with many a sigh , and floods of Tears , that the Assistances of Heaven might be thereby implored on the living . Here also was the Congregation when met entertain'd with suitable Homilies , ( for it was the Priests Duty on the Eve before the Holy-day to give the people an account of what Martyr's Birth-day commenc't with the next rising of the Sun ) and on the day it self the h h Greg. Turon . de glor. Mart. c. 86. History of the good mans Martyrdom was publickly read , and when the third Council at i i Can. 47. Carthage took so much care , that nothing were read in the Church but the holy Scriptures ; it doth also allow of the reading of the passions of the Martyrs on their Anniversaries . It is true the Church took care to prohibit false and legendary stories , of which too many carelesly were admitted , which were not only for bad to be read , but a a Conc. C. P. in Trull . Can. 63. commanded to be burnt , but still with an allowance of the just accounts truly Registred of those venerable mens last Essays in defence of their Religion . To which History of the Martyr's Atchievements were subjoin'd his b b Theodr. ubi supr. Character and Eulogy , c c Naz. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 36. & Ep. 95. p. 846. &c. and some other additional discourses to perswade the Auditory to an imitation of their Virtues and Courage ; at these Sepulchres also were the rest of the Ecclesiastical Offices perform'd , here they baptiz'd their Children , which the acts of the Martyrs frequently testifie ; ( and this perhaps is not the most unjustifiable interpretation of that hard place of S. Paul , 1 Cor. 15.29 . that they were baptiz'd in those early days over the dead ) here also did they partake of d d Basil . Ep. 289. & Constantin . ubi supr . the Eucharist , and according to the usual practice with the Sacrament did they celebrate e e Aug. Con. fess. lib. 6. cap. 2. the Eucharist , and according to the usual practice with the Sacrament did they celebrate e e Aug. Con. fess. lib. 6. cap. 2. their Love-Feasts , and took care of the poor , and when they would adjure their Brethren by a form that should oblige them , they did it f f Basil . Ep. 336. by the respect they bore to the memories of the Martyrs , as the g g Olearii Itiner . lib. 5. p. 254. Persians use to administer Oaths at the Sepulchres of their Saints .

XVII . The day of the holy mans passion was made a Festival , and because through negligence or ignorance people might not be so careful as they ought in the observance of those Solemnities , the Church from its infancy ( if we may believe Alcuinus ) set apart a particular day , that of All Saints , whereon to remember all the Martyrs together ; which holy days were kept with all the Testimonies of a sober joy , with Exultations , and great Rejoycings , say h h Mart. Polyc . p. 28. the Church of Smyrna ; S. Cyprian calls it the joyful Solemnity , and i i Tom. 2. Carm. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 80. S. Gregory Naz. the holy Feast ; and S. Ambrose never dined throughout the year , but on the Saturday and Sunday , and the Anniversaries of the Martyrs ? so when k k Nyss. To. 2. vit. Gr. Thaum . p. 1006. S. Gregory of Neocaesaria returned from his retirement in the Decian persecution , he commanded the Festivals of those that had been martyred during his recess to be observ'd , and all the people annually met at the places of their Burial , and made that day a holy-day ; and to take them off from their old Heathenish Customs , that prudent Prelate permitted them on those Solemnities to chear themselves and recreate their drooping Spirits with the several kinds of innocent mirth , out of an intention to induce them by those sensible joys to the rellish of more spiritual and nobler pleasures . For the Christians did not observe their Festivals as the Heathens did theirs , with a pompous train of obscene and impudent observances , and all the Arts of Debauchery , but with a Feast , l l Theod. ubi supr. whence all Drunkenness , and Gluttony , and immoderate laughter were banish'd , and where all things were perform'd with a modest , chaste , and temperate decorum . m m Naz. Orat. 6. p. 139 , 140. consul . loc . The Fathers severely cautioning the people on such occasions not to indulge to voluptuousness , intemperance and luxury , and other pleasurable satisfactions , that vanish in a moment , For what conformity is there between carnal pleasures , and the Combats of the Martyrs ? The one becomes a Theatre , the other the Church . He who will celebrate the Festival as he ought , — must imitate their Combats , and their Victories , and stedfastness to the interests of truth , must dread nothing but to dishonour God , and pollute his Image , and this is a Festival kept according to the mind of Christ .

XVIII . It is true what the Fathers foresaw and would have prevented fell out at last to the prejudice of Religion , every man a a Conc Carthag . ' 5. Can. 14 pretended a Vision , and on the strength of that built an Altar to an imaginary Martyr , the people in those Meetings gave the reins to all sort of unbecoming and irregular mirth , to Intemperance and Lasciviousness , and treated themselves with Wine and Dainties , and set up b b Basil . reg. fusior . disput. interr . 40. Markets near the Coemeteries for the sale of necessaries for those luxuriant Banquets , till the c c Aug. contr. Faust . Manich. l. 20. c. 21. Manichees objected it to the Catholicks , that they did appease the Manes of the dead thereby . This set the Prelates of the Church by degrees to discountenance and bring into disuse these conventions ; the d d Conc. Illiberit . Can. 34 , & 35. Council of Elvire forbiding the burning of Torches in the Coemeteries by day , and Womens watching there by night ; the making the Feasts there was prohibited by the Council of e e Can. 28. Laodicea , the Markets severely decry'd by S. Basil , the Oblations of the Bread and Wine , and other conveniences for the Feast disallowed by S. f f Aug. ubi supr. & de C. D. l. 8. c. 27. & Confes . l. 6. c. 2. Ambrose , and other holy and wise Bishops , because of the intemperance in which most men then wallowed . And yet the people were not of a sudden wholly converted from this distemper , but that g g B. Foelicis Natal. 9. p. 668 , 669. Paulinus complains , that they retained a spice of their old Heathenisme , serving their Belly as their God , and spending the whole night by Torch-light in sports , and drinking , and luxury . But to the Festivals when soberly and Christianly observ'd , the Bishops of the Church used to invite their Neighbour-Prelates ; So h h Ep. 336. S. Basil engages one of the Bishops of his Province to be present at the Anniversary of some Martyrs , and i i Naz. Tom. 1. Orat. 6. p. 139. S. Gregory Naz. was invited by S. Gregory Nyssen , and Nicetas a Dacian Bishop was a Guest to k k Paulin. ubi supr. p. 664. S. Paulinus on the Feast of S. Foelix .

XI . To the honor of the Martyrs did the Primitive Christians very early l l Theod. ubi suprd . Asterius Amisen . Homil. de avarit . p. 51. Edit. Rayn . build Churches ; Platina says , that Pope Fabianus began the custom ( they were called Martyria by the Chalcedon Council , Confessiones , & Memoriae Martyrum by the Latines ) Caius , the antient Ecclesiastical Writer , mentioning the Trophies , as he calls them , of S. Peter in the Vatican , and S. Paul in the Via Ostiensis , which Baronius will have to be Churches built to their honour ; and it agrees to the account of m m De 7. Urbis Eccles. c 4. p. 45. &c. Onuphrius , that there was a little Oratory erected over S. Peter's Grave in the Vatican , near the Via Triumphalis , which was afterward destroyed by Elagabalus , that profligate Emperour . n n Catalog . v. Clemens . S. Hierome also informs us , that there was a Church built at Rome to the memory of S. Clemens , that continued till his time : a a Vic. de persec . Vandalic . l. 1. two Churches were built to the memory of S. Cyprian , presently on his Martyrdom , which were the one rased , the other usurpt by the Arrians , b b Naz. Orat. 21. p. 386. another to the Virgin Thecla , in the City of Seleucia , and probably it was so done in other places ; but when the Christian Faith was acknowledged by the Governours of the world , and Constantine submitted his Scepter to the Cross , nothing was so usual , as the enquiries after the Reliques of the Martyrs , and erection of stately , beautiful , and well-adorn'd Fabricks to their memories , the building Temples , and erecting Altars , c c Aug. de C.D. l. 22. c. 10. where they facrificed not to the Martyrs , but to that God , who is equally the Patron of the Church Triumphant and Militant ; that great man built a noble Church over S. Paul's Grave at Rome , another at Constantinople to the honour of the twelve Apostles ; and d d Naz. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 14 , 15. the Divine gives us a memorable instance , how God was pleas'd with the hearty zeal of those pious persons ; for when both Gallus and Julian ( before his Apostasie ) were wonderfully concern'd , and careful in testifying their love to the holy Jesus , by their beautifying and endowing the Monuments of the Martyrs , and building Churches to them , the God of the Martyrs publickly testified his acceptance of the unfeigned devotions of Gallus , by prospering the work till it was compleated ; but miraculously demonstrated his disrelish of Julians hypocritical pretences ( as he despis'd Cain 's Sacrifice ) for the Earth , where he laid the foundation of his Temple , spued up the materials , and though he more than once eagerly endeavour'd to fix a Basis , it still continued ( as if a perpetual Earthquake had resided there ) to overthrow and scatter what was built ; Heaven taking care by this instance , not only to vindicate it self from the godly pretences of that Infidel , but to caution the World what a future Enemy he would be to the Martyrs : For the e e Sozomen . l. 5. c. 19. Historian reckons it as a great Specimen of his spleen and malice , that he commanded the Churches of the Martyrs to be burnt .

XX. These Temples in the days of peace were f f Aster . Amisen . ubi supr. pompous , and beautiful , and magnificently adorn'd , and that not only in the curiosity of the Structure , but in new and additional Ornaments , the good Presbyter g g Hier. Epitaph . Nepot . Tom. 1. p. 25. Nepotian spending much of his time in sprucing the Martyria with divers Flowers and Boughs , and Branches of the Vine , and with whatever lookt handsomely and decorous ; and to this was added afterward , in some places , h h Paulin. Natal . 9. S. Foelic . the History of the Old and New Testament , or of the Martyrs Life done in picture ; but the greatest Ornament that they boasted of , were the Reliques of the good man there deposited ; for as it was i i Conc. Carth. 5. Can. 14. unlawful to meet at any Coemetery , where no Martyrs Reliques were entomb'd , so k k Paulin. Ep. 11. ad Sever. p. 149. & Ep. 12. p. 168 , 172 , &c. without some or other such remains of the Saints , they would seldome in the fifth Saeculum consecrate a Church , and probably the day of the Martyrs death was pitcht on for the time of its dedication ; for those times ( the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) were also made Festival , and observ'd a a Naz. Orat. 43. p. 697. by an antient and excellent Law , at which time , says S. b b Ibid. p. 704. Greg. of Nazianzum , the Martyrs are more than ordinarily pleasant , and from their bright Thrones convene the people that love Jesus , to hear an account of their generous and Christian demeanour . And this gave the first rise to our Wakes , which like the Agapae at the Coemeteries , are now much degenerated from their Original Institution .

XXI . They were also curious in instructing the world how benign and compassionate God was to them in easing their pains , in plaguing their persecutors , in revealing their Reliques , and working miracles at their Tombs ; their torments were so far from sitting uneasily on them , that they voluntarily courted them , and rejoyc'd under them , and when they were condemn'd , usually cry'd out , Deo gratias , God be praised . S. Ignatius resolv'd , and S. Germanicus actually did incite , and allure the wild beasts to devour them , and Apollonia leapt into the fire ; S. Laurence felt no pain on his Gridiron , nor Theodorus the acute twitches of his Rack , and other inflictions , but full of joy continued singing a Psalm ; and how could he but be chearful , c c Sezo●● . ●●la sup● . that had his Assistant-Angel at his side , wiping off his sweat , and refreshing his tired and parcht limbs by pouring a cooling shream on him ? God gave them wisdome to confound their Adversaries , and that prudence and courage made them active and bold , and enabled them to d d Chrys. Tom. 5. p. 491. tread on burning Coals , as on a Bed of Roses , and sport themselves in the midst of the flames , like those that danc't at a Revel , so unconcern'd were they at all the contrivances of Satan ; they flockt to Martyrdome as Bees to a Hive , and were more passionately eager to die for Jesus , than men now-adays are for Preferment , or a Bishoprick : their Reliques were reveal'd by Miracle , so e e Naz. Orat. 18. p. 284. S. Cyprian's Body was discover'd , the remains of S. Gervasius and Protasius were reveal'd to f f Aug. Confess . l. 9. cap. 7. S. Ambrose , S. Stephen's to g g Phot. Cod. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 199. Lucian the Presbyter of Cephargamata , the Prophet h h Sozom. l. 9. c. 17. Zecharies to Calamerus , and the forty Martyrs to the Empress i i Id. l. 9. c. 2. Pulcheria : to omit many other examples . That Miracles were there wrought , hath been already evinc't ; for even in the days of k k De C. D. l. 22. c. 8. S. Austin such supernatural effects succeeded in the Name of Christ at the memories of his Saints ; and he makes it good , by the story of a Daemoniack cured at the Church built to the memory of the two forementioned Saints of Millain , in the Village Victoriana , but thirty miles from his own See Hippo ; and how God punisht their Persecutors , is every where obvious in the antient story .

XXII . Besides their Anniversaries , the Church gave them daily an honourable commemoration at the holy Altar , and that by an Apostolical Tradition , says a a Chrys. Tom. 4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in Act. p. 736. & Tom. 7. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 928. Tert. de Coron. Mil. c. 3. & pass. Cypr. Ep. 34. p. 37. Aug. contr. Faust . Manich. lib. 20. c. 21. & l. 22. c. 10. &c. S. Chrysostome ; not as the Dead are now prayed for in the Church of Rome , for so neither do they make supplications for the Martyrs , says b b Proleg . in Martyrol . Rom. p. 7 , 8. Baronius ; for the Sacrifices there offer'd for the Martyrs had relation to the Eucharist then administred , ( for when in that Sacrament the death of Christ is remembred , the death of his Martyrs is also minded , as of Souldiers with their Captain , to testifie their inseparable union to their Master , and the Church Triumphant ) to the Srcrifice of Alms then given to the Poor , and of solemn Thanksgiving to God for the example of the Martyrs ( hostiae Jubilationis , as c c Ep. 12. ad Sever. p. 175. Paulinus elegantly expresses it ) and wishing themselves partakers of their Crowns ; the prayers of the Church , then used for them , relating to the joyful Resurrection of the whole man at the day of Judgment , and the Consummation of bliss ; d d Field of the Church , append . 1. p. 754. vide & Calvini Ep. 87. ad Prot. Angl. p. 167. For it was an ordinary thing with the Antients in their prayers , to acknowledge and profess , that the thing was already granted and perform'd which they desired , and that the Martyrs were already carried into Heaven in a Chariot like Elijah , and yet beseech'd God notwithstanding to accept of their voluntary devotions and affections : So S. Austin prays for his Mother Monica , Nazianzen for his Brother Caesarius , and S. Ambrose for Valentinian ; the Antients using to pray for their Brethren and Friends on the days of their Obits , and for the Martyrs on their Anniversaries , as if they had been but then in departing , and in danger of Hell : for as on the day of the Nativity , and Circumcision , &c. we speak to God , as if God had then sent his Son into the world , &c. and yet mean not as the words may seem to import , that Christ doth then newly take flesh , &c. but that he is born to us , and we are made partakers of his Birth ; so they desire that which is then wanting to the holy men , as if the Anniversary were the day of their actual Martyrdom . This was the belief of the ancient Church , till e e De verb. Apest . ser. 17. St. Austin introduc'd a new Opinion , that who so prayed for a Martyr , did an injury to a Martyr , which place f f Decret. l. 3. tit. 33. c. 5. Pope Innocent the 3d. notwithstanding his infallibility , too hastily calls a Text of Scripture , and from hence came it , that the Prayers , which in the old Missals were addrest to Heaven for the Martyrs , are in the new ones offer'd to him .

XXIII . They allowed Martyrdome to supply all defects , even to the want of baptism , for when they a a Chrys. To. 4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in Ep. ad Philip. p. 20. spake doubtfully , if not severely of other Catechumens departed , they never doubted of those , who were baptized in their own blood , as we shall evince in the life of Tertullian . They asserted , that their deaths were the nearest of any Christian returns we can make by way of recompence for the blood of Christ . b b Tert. de resur . carn. p. 18. M. Ed. Rhen. Id. Apolog. cap. ult. Compensatio sanguinis Cypr. Ep. 26. p. 32. collega passionis cum Christo . vide eund. de laud. Martyr . p. 253. & 2 Tim. 4.6 . & Chr. in lec . For when the body is torn and mangled by the various instruments of fury and persecution , it endeavours to repay its Saviour the expences of his wounds , and passion , and that many times by the same sort of death , that Jesus experimented on the Cross , if not by a more acute , and more dismal punishment , and so by a blessed and glorious method cancells the debts , in which it stands engag'd to Heaven ; and St. Cyprian calls such sufferers Christs Compeers , adorn'd with the purple of their own blood , which is a kin to Christs . For hath Christ paid his blood for thee , says c c Lib. 3. de Virgin . T. 1. p. 129. vid. & Valerian . Cimeliensis hemil. 3. p. 5. & S. Paul . Natal . 9. B. Foelicis , p. 659 St. Ambrose , thou owest him thine in gratitude , for a good servant studies to repay his God in the same manner , that God hath obliged him . Like St. Gordius's exclamation in St. Basil , At what a loss am I , O my best Master Jesus , that I can die but once for thee ! The Church also allowed the Martyrs a more glorious title , than others , and called them not only the servants , but the d d Cypr. de exhort . Mart. c. 12. p. 197. & passim . vide ●j . lib. praefat. p. 193. &c. 12. p. 196. friends of God , and his sons in a more eminent manner ; they accounted them e e Naz. or. 18. p. 276. rational Burnt-offerings , perfect Sacrifices , and most acceptable Oblations to God ; in fine , they lookt on them , as the most immediate followers of the Lamb , whom they styled f f Eccl. Lugd. & Vien . apud Euseb. l. 5. c. 2. the faithful , and true Martyr , g g Naz●●bi supr. the first and most honorable Matyr , h h Paulin. Ep. 12. ad Sever. p. 178. and the Martyr of Martyrs . And therefore the Church that Constantine built at Jerusalem on Mount Calvary to the son of God , was i i Euseb. lib. 4. de Vit. Constant . c. 40. Sozomen lib. 2. cap. 26. & Cyril . Jer. Cateches. 14. by the Fathers called Martyrium .

XXIV . They believed also , that the holy Man ; that thus exspir'd went immediately into heaven , when the rest of the servants of God were reserv'd in a place of refreshment , and must expect their happiness till the day of Judgment , ( for if I understand the Fathers aright , Cypr. Ep. 16. p. 24. ad complexum , & osculum domini . Id. Ep. 26. p. 32. codeste regnum sine ulla cunctatione retinere , &c. Id. Ep. 52. p. 59. allud pendere in die judicii ad sententiam domini , aliud statim coronari . Id. de exhort . mart . c. 12. & cum Christio statim gandeat . Id. de laud. Ma●t . p. 250. Legi scriptum esse , usque quadrantem nos ultimum reddere ; sed haec pars ablata martyribus . vid. p. 252. they made a distinction between Vita aeterna , and regnum Dei ) the Martyr being admitted to the embraces and intimacies of the divine Majesty . And when the rest of the Elect shall be admitted to Heaven , they allotted a peculiar Coronet , and some additional degrees of glory to the Martyrs over and above the Crown of Immortality that all the Saints shall equally partake of , ( nay they granted them a a a Paulin. ubi supr. p. 665. kind of omnipresence , that wherever God was pleased to be , they also were with him , as the Domesticks of that heavenly Prince ) b b Chrys. To. 4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in 2 Thess. p. 723. for the suffering affliction for the sake of Christ is its own recompence , and the more dishonour the Disciple of Jesus undergoes here , by so much shall he be beautified and brighten'd in the kingdom of heaven .

XXV . Nor did they only allow them an extraordinary recompence in heaven , but on earth the most honorable place in their Catalogues ; for when they reckon the divers Orders of Men in the Church , c c Tert. de coron. milit. c. 2. they begin with the Catechumens , and end at the Martyrs , not being able to go higher . And St. d d Tom. 4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in Coloss. p. 139. Chrys. having enumerated the miraculous atchievements of the name of Jesus , that it had converted the World , subdued Satan , undermined his Empire , that it open'd the Heavens , and made us Christians in Baptisme , as if he could say nothing greater or more excellent ; he subjoyns this also , makes Martyrs and Confessors . And at the Day of Judgment they allowed them to wear their Honorable Scars , as Marks of their Conquest ( so their Master could after his Resurrection show the Marks in his Hands and his Side , ) and this e e Aug. de C. D. l. 22. cap. 20. not as any deformity , but as an embellishment to them . This occasion'd St. Babylas to order his Chains to be buryed with him , and f f Tom. 3. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in Ep. ad Ephes. p 799 , 800. locum adeas . the Golden-mouth'd Father professes , That he longs to see St. Pauls fetters , which the Daemons trembled at and the Angels reverenc'd , and which prov'd a golden rope to draw the Apostle up to heaven , for their is nothing so glorious as to wear chains for the sake of Jesus , it is agreater honor than a Consulship or an Empire ; it is a more splendid employ to be Christs prisoner , than an Apostle or an Evangelist ; were I to choose heaven , or the good mans bonds , I would prefer the last , I would rather accompany St. Paul in a Dungeon , than enjoy the society of Angels ; I had rather be such a Prisoner , than a Seraphin . So that transported Father hath it . And in truth St. Panl himself calls such a death , a sacrifice to God , g g Conf. Chr. To. 4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in 2 Tim. p. 372. & Hier. in loc. To. 9. p. 224. 2 Tim. 4.6 . and that by a word , that signifies more than ordinary Oblation , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 importing a whole Burnt-offering .

XXVI . They called their Children by the names of the Martyrs , rather than by the names of their nearest relations , ( it h h Conc. Nicen . can. 30. in cod . Arabic . being prohibited to give them Heathen names ) as if they studied all ways to perpetuate and eternize their Memories , and induce their posterity to an imitation of those virtues , that gave those reverend Men their Immortality . Thus it came to pass , that there were many Pauls , and St. Peter , and St. John had not a few namesakes ( says i i Lib. de promis . adv. Nepot . apud Euseb. l. 7. c. 25. Lat. 20. St. Dionysius of Alexandria ) men being desirous to give their Off-spring such names out of love to the holy Martyr , and admiration of his stupendious piety , out of zeal and earnestness , to engage their Children to walk in such steps , and because they thought thereby to get an equal share in the divine favour with those beloved Disciples . Nor were a a Theod. ubi supr. they without hopes this way to procure some assistances from the Martyr to that Pupil , to whom they design'd the Saint in a sort a Guardian , that he might be engaged to his Protection . Which custody of what nature they believed it to be , I will not now determine .

XXVII . These , with other considerations , were the great incentives of Martyrdom , and engaged all sorts of persons among the Christians to a passionate courting of sufferings , Tiberian . Palaest . 1. Praes. Ep. Trajan . p. 9. Ed. Usser . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Plin. lib. 10. Ep. 97. pervicaciam & infleuibilem obstinationem debere puniri . Dio Chrys. Orat. 32. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Lucian . de morte poregr . p 996. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . — Arrian . in Epictet . lib. 4. cap. 7. p. 417. Ed. Wolfii . Colon. 1595. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . — Antonin . Imper. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . lib. 11. sect. 3. p. 134. Edit. Xylandr . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Arrius Antoninus apud T●●tull . ad scapul . c. 4. Arrius Antoninus in Asia cum persequeretur instanter , omnes illius civitatis Christiani ante tribunalia eju●●e manu jactá obtulerunt : cum ille paucis duci jussis , reliquis ait . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Porphyr . lib. contr. Christian . apud Euseb. lib. 6. hist. Eccles. cap. 19. Gr. 13. Lat. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 vocat , rude , & barbarum vitae genus , reddit interpres . — Vide etiam Juliani 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 oper. part. 1. p. 528. in as much as their Heathen adversaries admired their courage , when they condemn'd their rashness , some attributing it to the barbarousness , and rudeness of their manners , others to custom , a third sort to superstition , and an ungrounded belief of a Resurrection , a fourth to obstinacy , and a mind bent to opposition , and for these reasons Volentibus mori non permittebatur occidi , says St. Cyprian , they were debar'd the liberty of taking sanctuary in the grave , or advis'd to betake themselves to precipices , and halters , and not tire out their Governors in denouncing sentences , and sealing Writs of Execution ; for such inforcives of a sudden swelled the Martyrologies , and every day made new Candidates for Heaven : a a Cypr. Exhort . mart . c. 11. p. 197. For who could think it a matter of difficulty and trouble , to be sacrificed for the interests of his Saviour , when he saw the holy Catalogue swell'd with names , that could not be numbered ? Hither ran Women and Children , as to a Feast , and made hast , lest they should come too late to partake of that Crown , till the Church was forc'd to enjoyn her Sons a prudential care of their Lives , by telling them , That it was lawful to retire in time of Persecution , and to bribe their Heathen Governors , that they might live securely , by condemning the Marcionites , Cataphrygians , and Martyriani , as Hercticks , for their irrational and rash pursuit of this honor , and by denying such undertakers a place in the Records of the Church , by decreeing not only , b b Conc. Illiberit . can . 60. & Conc. Laodic . can . 34. Epiph. haer. 80. that no Schismatick , or profane person should be accounted a Martyr , but also that no man , that temerariously or causlesly offer'd himself to his Pagan enemies , and fell rather by his imprudent rushing on death , than staying till providence called him to be a Witness to the Truth , should have a place in the Ecclesiastical Register . c c Naz. Orat. 10. p. 168. For this is the Law of Martyrdom , Not indiscreetly to pursue , nor cowardly to fly dangers , not to be ashamed of our Profession , or prodigal of our Lives . And now after this long digression we will again return to St. Clemens .

XXVIII . The issue of so pregnant a brain could not but be numerous , of which many are lost without hopes of recovery , and among them Mr. H. p. 85. reckons his Discourse intitled , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but this little Tract is extant , being Printed in the d d Part 1. p. 185. n. 42. an. 1672. Auctuarium Bibliothecae Patrum , set out by F. Combefis . For though the 8th Book of his Stromata hath that Title in some Copies , as says e e Cod. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 154. Photius , yet we have another 8th Book to make up the number without this . — His Books of Hypotyposes are now undoubtedly lost , though not very many years since ; the learned f f Ap. Montague against Selden of Tithes . ch. 3. p. 420. Fronto Ducceus writ to our Sir Henry Savil , that they were extant with the Patriarch of Alexandria ; and g g Annot. in Clem. Alexand . p. 50. Heinsius thinks the 8th Book of his Stromata now extant , to be a part of his Hypotyposes foisted in , instead of the last Book of that excellent Work which was lost ; in which he interpreted the whole Old and New Testament , says h h Ubi supr. Photius , which probably is the same Tractate , that Cassiodore means in praefat. divinar . lection . wherein he affirms , that St. Clemens expounded the whole Scripture from the beginning to the end ( though i i Tom. 2. an. 196. p. 280. Baronius would have it to be a distinct Work ) a part of which perhaps are those Commentaries on St. Peters First Epistle , St. Johns Third , and that of St. Jude , which are fathered on this Alexandrian Catechist , and are accounted spurious . And whereas Mr. H. mentions it not , I must acquaint the Reader , that the Epitome of the Oriental Doctrine of Theodotus , being excerpta out of his Hypotyposes , is still extant in the Edition of this Father by a a P. 565 , &c. Heinsius at Leyden an. 1616. And b b Ubi supr. vide Ruffin . de adulterat . libror. Origen . Photius says , the whole eight Books are full of strange and prodigiously blasphemous assertions , who reckons many of them , but withall professes , that he believes the Father hath been abused , and so do I. And it is well worth our observation , that whereas those Books , that were so full of un-Orthodox sentiments are lost , those other , which were more prudentially , and usefully pen'd , and wherein the Author testified his greatest accuracy , and skill , are yet preserv'd .

XXIX . The History of Clemens mention'd p. 88. without doubt is not his , but I am inclined to believe with c c Tom. 2. an. 196. p. 280. Baronius , that the Clemens , which Sozomen speaks of , is Clemens the Bishop of Rome , on whom is father'd the writing the Acts of St. Peter , and that Suidas speaks of a Heathen Historian . But the * * Vide Euseb. Hist. l. 6. cap. 11. Comment on Genesis seems to have been his , or rather a Comment only on the History of the Creation ( the Hexameron ) if we may believe d d Lib. 1. explanat . in Genes . Anastasius Sina●●a , who avers , that Clemens and Pantaenus ( for so it must be read , and not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) the Priest of Alexandria , and the most wise Ammonius were the most ancient and first Interpreters , that unanimously understood the History of the Creation in a mystical way of Christ and his Church . Besides all these e e Tom. 2. an. 120. p. 76. the Cardinal seems to intitle him to a Tract De Justitia , wherein he confutes the Carpocratian Heresie ; whereas 't is as clear , as what is writ with a Sun beam , to him that inspects the Father , that the Tract 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 was writ by Epiphanes Carpocrates's Son ( a young Heretick of very pregnant parts , who dying at 17 years of age was worshipt at Sama , a City of Cephalenia , as a God ) out of which Book we have a large fragment or two in f f 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . 3. p. 312 , 313 , 314. St. Clemens , wherein he undertakes to prove the lawfulness of community of Wives from the dictates of Nature and the Divine Institution , and that that Prohibition , Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbors Wife , signifies no more but this , Thou shalt not destroy the law of Community , which I have establisht , by coveting thy Neighbors Wife , so as to appropriate her to thy self .

XXX . The Books that are extant were writ g g Heins . and Dr. Cave's life of S. Clem. p. 198. in an excellent order : First , his exhortation to encline the Gentiles to abandon their folly , next his Paedagogus , or instructor , as a Catechism for the Neophytes ; then his Stromata , ( which Mr. H. by a hard , and uncouth term frequently calls Stromes ) being a full explication of the Mysteries of Christianity , with the Confutation of the Heathen Dogmata , fit for the reading of the most accomplisht Professor of Religion . And that all the Arts , that were necessary to be learnt as preparatives to the best knowledg , i. the Christian , might not be estranged from the capacities of his Scholars , He in his Hypotyposes treats of Logick , and the other Sciences , introductory to the Mysteries of true Philosophy ; and herein we may observe him to have been a follower of Pythagoras and Plato , first purifying the understandings of his Disciples from all their Faeces , and evil Notions , then initiating them into the Temple of Truth , and at last acquainting them with the more sublime rules of Wisdome and Piety . His Books are full of all sorts of learning , and a pleasing intermixture of the variety of Humane and Sacred Story . Of the first Book of his Stromata a a Canon . Isag . l. 3. part 3. p. 340. Joseph Scaliger gives this Character , That he hath of all men given the best and largest account of the Chronology of the age of the Heroes . And for his Protrepticon , which hath a much nearer and more peculiar relation to the Candidates of the Priest-hood , it is numbred by the Reverend b b Of Idolatry , Sect. 18. Dr. Hammond , among the choicest of that excellent set of Books , which may serve any Student for the Isthmus , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or passage between the study of Humane and Divine Learning , who reckons this with Origen 's Books against Celsus , and Justin Martyr 's , and Athenagoras 's Apologies , with Tatianus his Orat. contr. Graec. Theophilus ad Autolyc . Theodoret de curand . Graec. affectib . & Eusebius de praeparat . Evangel. with Cyril of Alexandria against Julian , Tertullian 's Apology , Minutius Faelix his Octavius , and Arnobius contra Gentes , with Lactantius , Julius Firmicus , and St. Austin de Civitate Dei . The converse with which Writings , is a generous , and becoming employment , and such as is its own reward .

XXXI . That S. Clemens was an admirer of Traditions and Apocryphal writings , c c Hist. 1. 6. c. 11. Eusebius is an undoubted testimony ; for when he writ his Scholia on the whole Bible , he under that Head comprehended not only the controverted Catholick Epistles of S. Peter , S. John , and that of S. Jude ; but the Epistle of S. Barnabas , and the Book called the Revelation of S. Peter , on all which he commented ; and in such Quotations he is not sparing ; he d d 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 304 , 305.330 , 331. & Epit. doctr. Orient . p. 572. &c. more than once cites that Dialogue between our Saviour and Salome out of the Gospel secundum Aegyptios , who asking the holy Jesus , how long Death should reign ? was answered , as long as her Sex should bear Children ( but that he came to destroy the works of the Woman , meaning carnal lusts ) To which when Salome replied , that then she had done well , that never had Children , he subjoyns , that every Herb may be freely eaten of , except that which is bitter and venomous implying , that neither Matrimony nor Celibacy are expresly commanded , or forbidden by the Law of God : a a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 339. And when she askt him , when the Consummation of all things should be ? was again satisfied , that it should be when there should be no more shame , and two should become one , and that one neither Male nor Female ; i. when the irascible and concupiscible faculties should be subdued to the Laws of right Reason and Religion , from the extravagancies of which passions all shame hath its original . — He frequently also cites the Book called , the Preaching of S. Peter , from whence he asserts b b 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . 6. p. 457. that the just men among the Gentiles did worship God , but not according to that perfect and absolute rule which the Son of God hath reveal'd to the World , and that God gave to the Jews , their Prophets , to lead them to the knowledge of Christ , and to the Gentiles , their Prophets , the Sibyls , and others to the same end . c c Ibid. p. 460. vid. p. 488. & 579. In this Tractate also he quotes , that Christ descended into Hell , to preach to the Spirits detain'd there . From d d Epit. Doctr. Orient. p. 578. vid. p. 574. the Book of Enoch he informs us , that the fallen Angels did teach men Astrology and Magick , and other unlawful Arts : Among all which traditional and Apocryphal citations , I truly admire that one of the Apostle Matthias ( whom some men e e Apud . eund . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . 4. p. 356. affirm to have been Zacheus the Prince of the Publicans , and who was f f Id. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . 7. p. 549. abused by the followers of Marcion , Basilides , and Valentinus , as if he were the Patron of their Opinions ) who among other things affirm'd , g g 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . 7. p. 537. that if the Neighbour of an Elect person sin , the good man himself is the offender ; for if the holy man had demean'd himself , as the word or right reason directed , his evil Neighbour would have stood in so much awe of his pious and well-governed life , that he durst not offend .

XXXII . Sect. 5. p. 94. Mr. H. reckons that passage of the Paedagogus as an excellent sentence , that this is to drink the blood of Christ , to be made partaker of the incorruption of the Lord ; which h h De fundam . S. Caenae . p. 109. Chemnitius ( but I remember that he was a Lutheran ) calls a Novel Opinion , and never heard of ; and in good truth , if it be allowable to make Allegorical interpretations of the plain words of the Sacraments , what evils may not thence ensue ? so in i i Lib. 2. c. 2. the same Book S. Clem. thus expounds our Saviours words , This is my blood , i. the blood of the Vine , which is shed for the remission of sins ; for as Wine refresheth the heart , and maketh merry , so the remission of sins is the glad tidings of the Gospel : which Position the same learned Lutheran terms , but too severely , a prophane , as well as a Novel Assertion : And having thus mentioned his Censure , I leave the Reader to judge .

XXXIII . And so must I beg him to determine between me and Mr. H. in another question of moment , relating to the Government of the Primitive Church by Bishops , of which I find him tacitly endeavouring to supplant the belief , and insinuating , as if in those early days there was no difference between a Bishop , and a Presbyter ; while here , p. 99. he quotes Clemens , that there were in his time only three Orders , Bishops , Elders , and Deacons ; as if that mixt and amphibious Animal , call'd a Lay-Elder , had been in those Primitive days a Church-officer , who was never heard of till yesterday , and as if Bishops were no more than Parish-Ministers , and Deacons their Church-wardens ; and so he explains himself commonly , Bishop , or Pastor , p. 2.17.21 . &c. and p. 6. Pastor , Overseer , or Bishop ; and p. 38. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Pastor or Chief President ; which word a a Resp. ad Sacar . cap. 25. annot. in Phil. 1 1. & in 1 Tim. 1.19 . & in Apocal. 2.1 . Beza is willing to acknowledge , that it did antiently signifie a Bishop , in the sense of the Church of England , and which b b Tom. 5. p. 499. S. Chrysostom twice in one page uses to denote the Eminency of S. Ignatius's Archiepiscopal and Patriarchal Dignity ; and had Mr. H. Englisht the Fathers , as they explain'd themselves in those early days , he might better have rendred it in some places Bishop , or Elder , c c Hier. ad Ocean . To. 2. p. 325. the one being a name of their Age , the other of their Authority : Nor can I but admire the prejudices of some men , who in this case appeal to Antiquity , as Salmasius , Blondel , and others have done , forcing it to speak the sense of the Vestry Tribunal by the most unreasonable deductions . I will only instance in that of d d Praefat. ad Apolog. p. 59. Blondel , who has found out a new Heresie of Aerius , unknown to all former Ages , till this infallible Dictator in Divinity appear'd , not that he affirm'd , that Bishops and Presbyters were the same Order , for that , says he , was the Opinion of S. Hierome , and all the Antients ; but that from these premises he argued a necessity of separation , and that no man could safely communicate with any of the other Opinion ; a device not worth the confutation , which having to shadow of Antiquity to countenance it , hath yet grown into practice at Geneva , if we may believe Danaeus a Professor there , who , as Beza calls the Episcopal Government under the Papacy , a devillish tyranny , e e Danae . Isag . part. 2. lib. 2. c. 22. so affirms , that it was their custome to re-ordain by their Presbytery any that came over to them , and had been ordain'd by a Popish Prelate before , as if every irregularity in the Ordainer , blotted out the Character , and their ill Government , if nothing else , were enough to countenance a Schism .

XXXIV . I had therefore once thoughts to have deduc'd the Episcopal Pre-eminence through the three first Centuries , from the works of those ten Fathers , of whom Mr. H. writes the Lives ; but on maturer thoughts I conceived it to be unnecessary , only I will mind my Reader , that f f De praescript adv. haer. p. 39. F. Edit. Rhen. Tertullian reckons it as a mark of a Heretick , that he is a man that pays no reverence to his Prelate ; and close the Paragraph with the counsel of a a Tom. 1. p. 955. Ed. Paris . 1627. S. Athanasius to Dracontius , who refused this holy Office : If the Institutions of the Church displease thee , and thou imagine that there is no reward annext to the just discharge of this duty , thou despisest that Saviour who gave being to this Jurisdiction . Such thoughts are unworthy a sober and wise man , for those things which our great Master hath ordain'd by his Apostles , cannot but be good and practicable , and notwithstanding any opposition , shall continue firm . I shall end this Section , when I have mention'd that Mr. H. b b P. 45. & alibi . in his Book of Confirmation hath rob'd the Bishops of their power in Confirmation , that he might confer it on every Presbyter , and ranking the Papist and Prelatical party together , hath called their ways of proof blasphemous Arguments , not considering that the concurrent suffrage of Antiquity makes the c c Bishop Taylor of Confir . sect. 4. Bishop the only Minister of this Rite ; and that herein the Jesuite and Presbyterian are united more genuinely , than the Romanist and Prelatical : For when Smith , Bishop of Chalcedon , was sent into England by Vrban 8. as an Ordinary here , the Jesuites would never submit to him , and at last wrought him out of the Kingdom , and presently publisht two Books in English against Episcopal Government , and Confirmation , disputing both into contempt ; d d Mystery of Jesuitism . let . 3. p. 150 , 151. which Books having been sent by the English Clergy to the Sorbon , there were thirty two Propositions in them censured , and condemn'd by that Colledge , Febr. 15. 1631.

XXXV . The design of S. Clemens in his Stromata , is to instruct his Gnostick , i. his accomplisht Disciple , a man extraordinarily acquainted with the Principles of Christianity ( in which sense e e Apud Socrat . hist. Eccles. lib. 4. c. 18. Evagrius entitles one of his Books , which he writ of the Monastick Institution , Gnosticus ; wherein he calls the Society of more eminent and contemplative Monks , the Sect of the Gnosticks ) for much after that rate that Plato does instruct his wise man , does this Alexandrian Presbyter instruct his Gnostick , whom he presumes to be a man elevated above the common pitch , and fit to be intrusted with the Mysteries of Scripture , such as he and his Scholar Origen were pleas'd in their Allegorizing way to make , describing 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Clemens Romanus words it , the qualifications of a true Gnostick ; for it was not the usage of the Primitive Church to communicate the knowledge of their Arcana to their Catechumens , or Strangers ; but after Baptism and Confirmation , they were permitted those fruitions ; and for this reason I suppose among others , might Baptism be call'd 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , illumination , f f Basil . To. 2. de Spirit . S. cap. 18. p. 190. because then the Spirit of knowledge affords to the lovers of Truth a certain image of the things they desire .

XXXVI . But the name was commonly put to a worse use , and the Gnostick was a Synonymon of a Heretick , the whole Tribe being a mock-sort of Christians ( 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Epiphanius calls them elegantly ) who begun under Simon Magus , the great pretender to the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , 1 Tim. 6.20 . the knowledge falsly so called , and the Atheistical methods of seducing Menander , one of the Scholars of that Leviathan , was the first Leader of the Party , says a a Lib. 3. c. 4. Irenaeus , till afterward the name was usurpt by the b b Id. ibid. c. 11. followers of Carpocrates , and the Nicolaitans , who challenged it as their peculiar denomination , though indeed the title was claim'd by almost all the Hereticks of the first Century ; but in the second Saeculum the Valentinians ingrost it , and were peculiarly so called ; against whom S. Irenaeus writing , entitles his Book , A Refutation of the Gnostick Heresie , who may be term'd the second Family of the Gnosticks , the Disciples of Basilides c c Hier. Gatal . v. Agrippa . having been also on his deatn so stiled at Alexandria ; for there was a strange sympathy in Opinion between the followers of Basilides , and Valentinus ; which last sort of Hereticks having been guilty of falfifying the works of Plato , as well as the Scriptures , were also opposed , and writ against by the learned d d Porphyr . in vit. Plotin . Plotinus , in his Books against the Gnosticks .

XXXVII . To the judgment of Pope Gelasius , in his Condemnation of the writings of this most learned Father , I cannot pay that respect which I else would , while it is unknown , whether that Censure be his , or every Book therein condemn'd do infallibly deserve it , of which in a similar Subject the Reader may have an account and information from e e Vindic. Ignat. part. 1. c. 4. p. 44. &c. Bishop Pearson , who hath made it appear , that that Roman Synod hath been foisted into the world under the name of that Pope ; in which Convention ( if there were any such ) S. Clemens need not be asham'd of his company ; of whom , to omit others , I will only mention two , whose writings are at the same time reprobated ; viz. Hermes his Pastor , and Barnabas his Catholick Epistle , both frequently quoted by this great man ; of whom the first was acknowledg'd to be a genuine and very useful discourse by f f Apud eund. p. 39. &c. Irenaeus , and Origen , Eusebius , Athanasius , Sedulius , and others , and reckon'd with the Wisdom of Solomon , and Ecclesiasticus , &c. ( though I cannot believe g g Not. in Philocal . p. 683. Tarinus , that Origen writ a Comment on the Book , for the passage which he quotes in the Philocalia will not countenance it ) and questionless deserv'd it , before it fell into the same evil hands with others of the Fathers , who did adulterate it : and h h Catal. v. Hermes . S. Hierome gives a reason why it was so slighted in the Western Churches , because not known there ; whereas in many Churches of the East it was publickly read , as Clemens his Epistle to the Corinthians , and Polycarp's were .

XXXVIII . That the Catholick Epistle St. Barnabas is the true Off-spring of that Father ( which the learned i i Life of S. Earn . p. 41 , 42. Dr. Cave doubts , but is acknowled'gd by the most Reverend Vsher , the acute Isaac Vossius , the immortal Grotius , and others ) I am convinc'd by Clemens Alexandrinus , and Origen , the frequent Allegories being no argument of its spuriousness , as strange interpretations being to be found in the gennine Epistle of St. Clemens to the Corinthians , his quoting passages and speeches of our Saviour not Recorded in the Evangelists , usual also in the foremention'd Epistle ; and for its being accounted k k Vid. Is . Vossii Not. in Ep. Barn . p. 311. Apocryphal , I suppose it cannot mean , that there was any doubt of the Author , but because some doctrines in the Epistle were disrelisht , it was not thought fit to be admitted into the publick Codex , or Canon of the Scripture , for if all Books that were early controverted must presently be rejected , V●d . Euseb. hist. lib. 6. c. 13. because so accounted , then the Epistle to the Hebrews , the Catholick Epistles of St. Peter and St. Jude , the second and third of St. John , and the Apocalypse must be expung'd the Canon of the Scripture , ( and the Epistle of Barnabas , which Tertullian quotes , is no other , but that to the Hebrews . ) And so I believe St. b b Catal. v. Barn . Hierome understood the case ; who disputes not either the Author , or worth of the Epistle , but says , That it was writ for the edification of the Church , although it were numbred among the Apocryphal Scriptures .

XXXIX . The error of this learned and holy Priest that our Saviour while on earth was not subject to our passions and infirmities , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . lib. 1. in Prodico . had its rise , I conjecture , from his very venerable thoughts of the Son of God , as if to stoop him to our infirmities had been to debase him . That Christ Preach'd but one year , from his mistake of that place of Holy Writ , which , says he , both the Prophets and Gospels Record , He hath sent me to Preach the acceptable Year of the Lord . That Christ descended into the Limbus Patrum , to save the Fathers there detain'd , is not his peculiar Error , but an Opinion , which most of the Antients embrac'd , as is confess'd by c c Answ. to the Jes . sect of Limbus Patr. vid. Montag Apparat. 1. sect. 1●4 . the Lord Primate , and is reckon'd among the allowed Dogmata of the Catholick Church by d d Dedogm . Eccl. c. 78. Gennadius . The Doctrines of Free-will , and the Incontinency of the Angels have been already consider'd . The Opinion of the Salvability of the fallen Angels , I conjecture , proceeded from an over high conceit of Gods propensity to be merciful , and to forgive ; e e Vid Hier. in Jon. 3. & Ephes. 6. p. 149. b. Edit. Pra●n . The Fathers generaily of the Four first Centuries being perswaded , That the Devils are not yet locally in Hell , nor snall be till the day of Judgment , but are inhabitants of the Air , where God allowing them some respite , it encourag'd this Father , and his Scholar Origen to suppose , there might be yet some hopes of their Salvation .

XL. But greater Errors than these are pardonable to one , that hath so honorably deserv'd of the Interests of Religion , and it is to be lamented , that the Church hath not a better Account of his last Actions , whom we find buryed in silence by the Antients . Only what Mr. H. p. 109 , 110. affirms , That he out-lived his Master Pantaenus many years , and yet dyed an. 195. cannot be reconciled . For Pantaenus flourished under Caracalla , says St. Hierome , the first year of whose Empire did not Commence till an. 211. So that we cannot imagine St. Clemens to dye till circ. an. 220. at the least , when probably he went into his Grave in Peace , the Martyrologies of either Church allowing him no place , though unjustly , they having honored many persons that worse deserv'd that solemn Commemoration , and more than a few , that never swam to Heaven in their own Blood . But it was their neglect , and our unhappiness , that we cannot Celebrate this brave person in an Encomium tantamount to his Worth .

THE LIFE OF Tertullian .

I. TErtullian was a man eminent for his Birth , being of the Tribe Septimia , of which there had been several Kings ; admirable for his great Endowments , being well seen in all Learning , and as the most antient , so without controversie the best read of all the Latine Fathers ; and as famous for his fall , his deserting the Catholick Church , and suffering himself to be wheadled by the Disciples of Montanus ; but notwithstanding his Original was illustrious , I cannot believe him to have been the Son of a Pro-Consul , as Mr. H. p. 111. mistaking St. Hierome makes him , for St. a a Catal. v. Tertul. vid. Dr. Cave 's Life of Tert. p. 202. Hierome says his Father was Centurio Pro-Consularis , i. a Centurion at Carthage under the Pro-Consul of Africk ; for I think we shall never find in the Roman History an ordinary Centurion intrusted with a Pro-Consular dignity .

II. Under his Father without doubt he had a liberal and ingenuous Education , which furnisht him with those sublime parts , that in his Writings exert themselves , manifesting him a great Historian , and excellent Orator in his African way , and an acute Lawyer , though that he pleaded at the Bar , as Mr. H. p. 112. and others suggest , is not so clear ; b b Dr. Cave . ibid. p. 203. the Argument from that passage in his Book De Pallio , serving as well to prove him to have been a Soldier , or a Courtier ; which Book was not Writ by Tertullian , at his first Conversion , as Mr. H. p. 113. out of Pamelius supposes , c c Baron . & Salmas . apud eund. p. 205. & Prim. Christian . part. 2. cap. 3. but nine or ten years after , when he entred into Holy Orders , and so was obliged to change his Gown , his ordinary habit , for the Cloak ( Sacerdos Suggestus , the Sacerdotal Habit , as he calls it ) a Garb , that denoted more Mortification , and Contempt of the World , and love of the best sort of Philosophy ; and continued till the time of d d Socr. l. 7. c. 36. Sylvanus Bishop of Troas , who refused to wear it , and e e Can. 12. the Council of Gangra condemn'd the wearing , when it was presum'd there was much Holiness inherent in the Habit. And f f Dr. Cave's Life of S. Justin . p. 144. Ferri hoc non posse , & cùm ipsi capita , & supercilia sua radant , si quando Isidis suscipiunt sacra : si forte Christianus vir attentior sacrosanctae religioni vestes mutaverit , indignum facinus appellant . Ambr. l. 6. Ep. 36. ad Sabin , in truth the sordid and mean black Coats of the Christian Monks , were by Libanius , Eunapius , and others laid to their charge , till it became Proverbial , There goes a Greek Impostor , because the Pallium was a Greek Habit , as the Toga was a Roman .

III. In this I cannot but subscribe to that Learned Man , whose name I reverence , but must take leave to profess my dissent from him in another piece of Chronology , when he fixes the Epocha of Tertullian's turning Montanist at the third or fourth year of the Emperor Caracalla , and yet affirms , that his Book De Corona was Writ the 7th year of Severus , at the Creating his eldest Son Antoninus his Co-partner in the Empire , and his youngest , Geta , Caesar ; for then we must grant Tertullian's fall to have been very early , it being very plain to me , that he was of that fond belief , when he writ the Tractate De Corona Militis , from these words , ( a a De Coron. c. 1. with which he girds the Catholick Soldiers , who wore their Garlands on their heads , and thought it lawful to fly in time of Persecution , which Montanus condemn'd , They may be well allowed to fly from Martyrdome , who have rejected the Prophecies of the Holy Spirit , Where he can mean no other person but Montanus : nor does he forbear on this account to rally the very Bishops of Rome in the succeeding words , I have known their Prelates Lyons in peace , but more timorous than Stags in times of difficulty . And in the b b Cap. 11. same Book he makes it unlawful for a Christian to be a Soldier , contrary to his former judgment in his Apologetick , where he tells the Emperor , That his Army was full of the Disciples of Jesus , and recites the famous undertaking of the Legio fulminatrix without blaming them . But the former passage of the Paraclete is so clear , that all that Pamelius can do in his Annotations , will not wash the Aethiop .

IV. I therefore think that the Book was Written , neither at the 7th nor the 16th year of Severus , as Learned Men diversly opine ; not in the 7th year , for Tertullian's Apologetick could not be Writ till that time , ( there being no appearance of a persecution , before that year of Severus ) nor I think at least till three or four years after , for c c Apologet. cap. 35. in it he not only mentions the overthrow of Cassius , Niger and Albinus , but of Plautianus , ( as I suppose he means him in that Description , Post vindemiam parricidarum racematio superstes , calling him the Gleanings after the full Vintage of the Traytors ) whom he Characters , as a Man entring into the Palace Arm'd to the ruine of the Emperor , that he affected the assuming the Regalia in his Habit and Houses , being most princely , and was not negligent in the consultation of Magicians concerning the Fate of the Empire , which are an exact Description of that Traiterous and proud African , if we consult d d Lib. 3. p. 76 , 77. Herodian and e e Spartian . in Sept. Severo . Spartianus : now the Treason of Plautianus did not break out till the 10th or 11th year of Severus . Nor do I think it writ in the 16th year of that Prince , because f f Cap. 1. Tertullian introduces that scrupulous , and over-nice man's Fellow-Soldiers complaining of him , as if that fact of his would incense the Emperor , and give occasion to the raising of a Persecution , that would put an end to their serene days and enjoyments ; So that if it relate to the reign of Septimius , it must necessarily be referred to the beginning of it , when g g Id. ad Scapul . c. 4. p. 71. having been cured of a desperate Distemper by Proculus a Christian , he not only kept his Miraculous Physician at Court with him , but shewed himself favourable to all persons of his Religion ; whereas about the 9th of his Empire , begun that fierce and cruel Persecution , that ended not but with his Life . I would therefore presume to believe , that the Donative , on the occasion of which Tertullian writ the defence of that Soldier , who refus'd his crown , was given , not in the times of Severus , but in the first year of Caracalla , and Geta , on their return out of Britain , after the death of their Father [ when Antoninus slew all his Fathers Physicians for not hastening his death , and his own Governor Euodus for endeavouring to take up the differences between him and his Brother , and all others that were favourites to Severus ] it being usual at the Inauguration of Princes to give such largesses , and very necessary at that time to smooth the mind of the Soldiery after so many brutish acts of cruelty , and continued threatnings of more mischief .

V. So that I cannot but see a necessity of believing , that Tertullian became a follower of Montanus in the middle of the reign of Septimius Severus , for in the fifteenth year of that Prince were his Books against Marcion writ , as a a L. 1. adv. Marc. p. 56. C. Ed. Rhen. himself testifies , but that he was then a Montanist is very plain ; for b b Lib. 1. ad fin . he defends the necessity of single Marriages by the testimony of the Paraclete , which can be no other than Montanus , and c c L. 4. p. 91. D. calls the Orthodox , in scorn , Psychici , and pleads eagerly for his new Prophetick Afflatus and Ecstasies ; and to this the very long Popedome of Zepherinus will give countenance , and engage us to believe , that the Disputation between Gaius and Proclus , was manag'd some years sooner , than most of the Chronologers place it . Nor are several other Works of this Father , commonly reckon'd among his Tracts , Writ before his Desertion of the Church , but infected with the leaven of Montanisme ; for in his De resurrect. carnis , he stiles Prisca a Propne●ess , and in his De●anima , undertakes to prove the corporeity of the Soul , by a vision of that Impostress , and in the beginning of his Book , De velandis virginibus , he affirm . That Holiness was in its rude elements under the law of nature , in its infancy under the Mos●ick Oeconomy and the Prophets , in its youth under the Gospel Dispensation , but never came to its maturity and full growth , till his time under the Paraclete . His discourse also against Praxeas then commenc'd , wherein d d Cap. 1. adv. Prax. he tells us , that at first the Roman Prelate ( Baronius says it was Anicetus , Dr. Cave , Eleutherius , but I think it was Zepherinus ) did believe the Prophecies of Montanus , Prisca , and Maximilla , and granted Letters of Peace and Communion to the Churches of Asia and Phrygia , that were infected with that Heresie , allowing what his Predecessors had condemn'd , but was diverted from continuing in that resolution by Praxeas , the Author of the Sect of the Patro-passiani , against whom Tertullian Writing , says , That he did two good Offices for the Devil , while he was at Rome ; he expell'd the Spirit of Prophecy , and brought in Heresie , he banish'd the Holy Ghost , i. Montanus , and crucified God the Father , Calling the Orthodox by the usual name of disgrace among those Herereticks , Psychici ; which makes me wonder , that that very Learned Man should number these Books among those that Tertullian Writ , before he fell into Heresie . Whereas in the Books which he Writ before he became a Montanist , he a a De praescript . adv. haeret . c. 52. calls it a blasphemous assertion to aver , That the Holy Ghost discovered more by the Ministry of Montanus , than of the Apostles , and his Tractate De Baptismo , purposely opposes Quintilla , a Woman of great repute in the Family of Montanus , to prove the necessity of Water to the right Administration of Baptism , and of Baptism to Salvation .

VI. To this Opinion , for the main , Mr. H. p. 13½ . assents , but I can no way allow of his deduction from it ; that therefore all the customs and usages of the Church ( idle Ceremonies he calls them ) which Tertullian reckons up in his de Corona , came out of the School of Montanus , as the Centurists , says he , profitably conjecture , and which , p. 169. he stiles the materials of the Antichristian Synagogue then preparing : For had Tertullian argued against the Catholicks from the observances of his own Conventicle , he had expos'd his reasonings to derision , by begging the question ; whereas the Orthodox might easily retort on him , that these were not the usages of the Christian Church , but of their little Tribe ; whereas the method is perswasive , when disputing against the Catholicks , he urges them with their Traditional Rites and practices , which were common to both them , and the followers of Montanus : nor is it but a most irrational inference , to cast off all things that are good , because of the intermixture of some unsound Positions in any person or writing ; as if we must think all the accounts of the Primitive usages in Eusebius , were only the little arts of the Arians , or in Socrates , did belong only to the Novatian Schism , because the one was supposed an Arian , and the other a Puritan : But to argue justly , we must first prove the Institution of these Ceremonies to be an act of Montanus , and the use of them the peculiar practices of his followers , which I think Mr. H. will hardly undertake ; and if he hath any Veneration for that learned man B. Rhenanus , whom he so often quotes , he may from his Notes on this Book have a perswasive and sober account of the reason of these Institutions ; and if this will not satisfie , b b Ubi supr. Tertullian shall give him my Answer , Quamdiu per hanc lineam serram reciprocabimus ? I count it madness any longer to draw this Saw of contention : but it behoves the opposers of ours and the Primitive Church to discountenance as much as may be , such early instances of the use of the Cross , the Responses in Baptism , the prohibition of fasting on the Lords day , and many other such practices .

The occasion of this so justly lamented defection of this great man , S. c c Catal. v. Tertul. Hierome says , was the envy of the Church of Rome against him , and the opprobrium there cast on him , which might easily work on a man of his temper and Country , to imbitter him ( Pope Victor , and the Emperour Severus , his Countrymen and Cotemporaries , were not the most moderate men in the world ) such inju●ties being insufferable to ingenuous Natures , a a Lib. 6. cap. 25. Sozomen telling us , that had Apollinaris been treated with more mildness and condescension by Theodotus , and Georgius , Bishops of Laodicea , he believes the Church had never been pester'd with his new Heresie ; others , as Pamelius , and Mr. H. p. 115. that it arose from his missing the Bishoprick of Carthage , and such ambition hath also much promoted the disturbances of the Church , Tert. adv. Valentin . c. 4. p. 139. solent amini pro prioratu exciti , praesumptione ultionis accendi . Id. de baptism . p. 273. Ed. Rhen. — aemulatio enim schismatum mater est . the baffled pretender , out of revenge , venting his malice against the Church that slighted him . So b b Hegesip . apud Euseb. lib. 4. c. 21. when S. Simeon Cleophae was admitted to the Episcopal Chair at Jerusalem , in the room of S. James the Just , Thebuthis began to corrupt the Church , by introducing Heresie , because he was not made S. James's Successor . So c c Tert. adv. Valent. c. 4. p. 251. Edit. Paris . 1664. Valentinus broach'd his new Hypothesis , and the d d Apollinaris apud Euseb. l. 1. c. 15. & Theodoret . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 lib. 3. sect. Montanus . ambition of Montanus first occasioned his deserting the Church : e e Cornel. apud Euseb. hist. lib. 6. c. 35. Novatus turn'd Schismatick , being denied the Popedome ; f f Theodoret. ubi supr. lib. 4. sect. Arius . Arius became the Father of that most pernicious Heresie of his , because Alexander was preferred to the Patriarchate of Alexandria , and himself slighted , and g g Socrat. Eccles. hist. lib. 1. cap. 24. Asterius became his follower , because on the account of his sacrificing in the days of persecution , he was denied a Bishoprick which he greedily gap't after : h h Theodor. Eccl. hist. l. 5. c. 4. Apollinaris also expos'd his Darling Dogma , failing of the Bishoprick of La●dicea , i i August . de haeres . cap. 69. Donatus his , for missing the See of Carthage , and k k Epiphan. haeres. 75. Aërius on the same score turn'd Leveller ; and because being only a Presbyter , he could not be a Bishop , was resolved , if he could have done it , that no Bishop should have been greater than a Priest , ( as Marcion forbad honest Marriage , when himself had been cast out of the Church for prostituting the Chastity of a Virgin ) and I have it from a very worthy person , that Hugh Broughton ( the Patriarch of the Puritans ) his own Brother should aver , that he first went over to the discontented party , having been denied some valuable preferment which he desired in the Church ; and l l Doctrin . fid. lib. 2. cap. 6. Waldensis quotes the Bishop of Salisbury , affirming in a full Assembly of the Clergy of the Province of Canterbury , that Wickliff aim'd at the Mitre of Worcester , and being deceived of his expectations , grew discontent ; nay , even the very Conventicles of the Hereticks were subdivided by this spirit of ambition ; for m m S●crat . lib. 7. c. ● . Sabbatius made a new Schism among the Schismatical Novatians , being strongly possest with this Daemon , and the desires of a Crosier .

VIII . But this thought , I cannot be perswaded to entertain of Tertullian , so great a lover of Mortification and Abstinence , and one ; that so little valued external grandeur , and the pompous shadows of honour : I am therefore inclin'd to believe , that it was a passionate and ungovern'd zeal which sway'd him ; and that his intentions were very just and honourable , but misguided ; that his aim was , though he took a wrong course to keep up the reputation of the Primitive Severities , and holy Discipline , of which he was an eager Assertor ; for we cannot find him charg'd with any erroneous sentiments , in matters of Faith , but a scrupulous studiousness to maintain the antient practices , a a Rigalt . not . in Tertull . adv. Prax. p. 501. quae Tertulliani dicuntur haereses , &c. his greatest Heresies were no other than a stronger love of Martyrdome than ordinary , greater frequency in fastings , and stricter holiness , an injunction of continuing in the estate of Coelibate , or at most a contentedness with one Marriage : And if these were his Vices , good God , what can we call his Virtues ? for it is probable , that he held the Opinions of Montanus , as that Impostor first propos'd them to the World in a taking dress , and such as was very agreeable to the severer sort of Christians , not as they were afterward adulterated by his followers the Phrygians , ( acu Phrygiâ interpolatum , as Mons. Rigaud elegantly terms it ) whose additional dotages occasion'd his separation from them , and setting up his own Congregation of Tertullianists ; and yet these Phrygians , if we may take b b Lib. 4. c. 23. Socrates's testimony , were the most regular in their lives of all the Asiaticks , men very temperate and chaste , never heard to swear , or seen to be angry , or delighted with the toys and pleasures of the world ; and this I suppose inclin'd them so easily to become Novatians , which Schism renewed the discipline of Montanus , but was not so fully agreed among themselves in some particulars , for the c c Apud eund. lib. 5. c. 21. Novatians in Phrygia did condemn second Marriages , those at Constantinople did neither allow , nor disallow them , but the Occidental Disciples of that Sect publickly approv'd them .

IX . Nor did Tertullian , in this case , want enough to plead in his own behalf , he being the Champion of the Apostolical Institution ; but the Church on the principles of Christian prudence remitting her former strictnesses , allowing second Marriages , dispensing with extraordinary fastings , and receiving Penitents before the times of extremity : for it appears to have been the Opinion and Practice of the most Venerable Antiquity , that gross sinners , as Apostates , Murtherers , Adulterers , and such like , should be wholly excluded from Penance : And this makes d d de pudicit p. 555. Ed. Paris . Tertullian object to Pope Zepherinus , the corruption of the antient discipline ; and e e Ep. 52. p. 59. S. Cyprian confesses , that many of his Predecessors did deny communion to such Offenders ; and the judicious f f Of the right of a Church in a Christ . S●ate . ch. 1. pag. 19 , &c. Thorndike says , That if we compare the writings of the Apostles with the Original practice of the Church , it will appear that those rigours were brought in by them , ( and that these were the sins unto death , which might not be pray'd for ) abating by little and little , till that Discipline was lost , but that the Reformation of the Church consists in the retaining it . And this he there proves largely , and so saves me the labour .

X. And for the noted Dogma which Mr. H. p. 118. adventures to say made him a Heretick ; g g De Monogam . p. 533 Tertullian's argument to prove the unlawfulness of second Marriages , is taken from that of the Apostle , that a Bishop must be the Husband , of one Wife , i. as the Fathers generally understood it , only once married , not the Husband of two Wives , either together , or successively : but says Tert. all the Lords people are his Priests , a Royal Priesthood , and therefore must so abstain : Nay , among all the Fathers , Monogamy was lookt on as one of the excellent Counsels of Scripture , if not as an obligatory Precept , ( and had Tertullian only recommended , but not enjoyn'd it , I know no man could have blam'd him ) and , in truth , in Tertullian's sense , the Opinion was countenanc'd by that Age that he lived in , and the most antient Provincial Councils , We marry but once , or not at all , says a a P. 10● . Ed. Oxon. Octavius in Minutius Foelix : and the b b Can. 3. Council of Neocaesarea , which was ratified in the great Nicene Convention , requires , that those who were twice married , should do penance before their admission to the Eucharist ( which time of penance , says Zonaras , was a whole year at least ) c c Can. 7. & Conc. Laodic . c. 1. the Priest being prohibited to be present at second Marriages ; and when afterward the Church connived at them , yet d d Ambr. in 1 Cor. 7. Tom. 5. p. 261. & in 1 Tim. 3. p. 394. v●d . Isidor . de Divin Offic . lib. 2. cap. 19. vid. extravag lib. 4. tit ult . the Priest was forbidden , on pain of suspension , to give the blessing to the new married Couple ( and this Custom is still continued in the Greek Church , who are therefore impeacht by Prateolus , and others , as condemners of second Marriages ) for such Matrimony is little better than fornication , says the Author of the Opus imperfectum on S. Matthew : Every one of us Christians , says e e Legat. pro Christian . p. 41. Ed. Steph. Athenagoras , either remains as he was born , or marries but once , for second Marriage is but a more plausible kind of Adultery ; f f Clem. A●exan● 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 p. 338 for as Idolatry is a receding from the worship of one God , to the acknowledging of a multitude of Deities , so the dislike of single Marriage , and the imbracing of a succession of Wives is Adultery , for g g Origen . hem . 17. in Luc. f. 103. Edit. Merlini . Vide & Naz. Tom. 1. Orat . 31 p. 501. such a man can have no part in the Kingdom of God : And h h Lib. 1. adv. Jovin . S. Hierome , though he condemns Tertullian , urges the same thing , and confirms it by a multitude of examples of the brave Heathen Women , especially the Indians , who burnt themselves on the decease of their Husbands , and smartly blames the degeneracy of his Age , that had swerv'd from the Primitive Purities ; ( for which Concessions he is forc'd to Apologise to Marcella ) and in his 30th Epistle , i i Tom. 1. p. 201. ad Oceanum , he introduces Fabiola voluntarily offering her self to publick penance , because she had married twice , as if she had plaid the Adulteress , since second Marriages are but a more gentile sort of Adultery : And as late as the time of k k Apud C●●mnitii 〈…〉 3. 〈…〉 digam 〈◊〉 cerdot 〈◊〉 373. 〈◊〉 & L●●● . Imp. constit . 9. Constantine Porphyrogenetus , who-ever married three Wives , was for the offence to stand Excommunicate five years : and , in truth , the Fathers in general were not so just in their commendations of a married life ; and therefore , methinks , should not so briskly have condemn'd so brave a man , that had the Apostles Institution , and the practice of the two first Centuries for his Guide , and great Reason besides : for if we may credit l l Argum 〈◊〉 de pu●●● inter 〈◊〉 per. 〈◊〉 Beatus Rhenanus , there were two main Causes that inclined them to these severities .

XI . First , Because they thought the Day of Judgment at hand , a a 〈…〉 l. 1 Dies expeditionis , as Tertullian elegantly calls it : and it is the Apostles argument , 1 Pet. 4.5 . Phil. 4.5 . and 1 Cor. 7.29 . The time is short , therefore let them that marry be as if they had no Wives : A Topick commonly made use of by b b Ep. ad Ephes. p. 6. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . S. Ignatius , by S. Justin , and the Martyrs , as their Acts testifie ; and the Christians were mockt for it under the Emperour Marcus Aurelius by an Heathen Impostor , c c Capitolin . in Marco . who pretended , that when he should fall from a wild Fig-tree , and be turn'd into a Stork , fire should come from Heaven , and the World be at an end : and this the succeeding Fathers seriously believ'd , d d Cypr. Ep. 55. p. 70. & exhort . ad Martyr . p. 192. Lactant. Instit. l. 7. c. 25. Euseb. l. 6. c. 6. Hier. Cat. v. Judas . that Antichrist was at hand , and the dissolution of all things should be shortly , and particularly that it could not be above two hundred years , till all were accomplisht ; and is not this that which e e Philopater . p. 1127. Lucian derides in the Christians of his Age , that they talkt as if the course of affairs should be altered , and disorders and troubles seize on the City , scoffing them , as if they gaz'd in the air , and used the help of the Mathematicks for such discoveries , as every old Woman could make : and I am perswaded , that that prayer which f f Apolog. c. 39. Tertullian mentions as a part of the Christian Liturgy , pro mora finis , relates to the deferring the coming of Antichrist , and the miseries of those days .

XII . His second reason is , because the cares of a Married life are no mean impediment to the Offices of Christianity , and that there was a necessity to abate these appearances of sensuality , that they might give to occasion to their Heathen Adversaries to bespatter that Holy name , by which they were called , especially since many times they inter-married with the Gentiles . Hence arose that famous abstemiousness of the Primitive Asceticks , who by wonderful abstinences , and a dry diet subdued the flesh ; by this course St. Timothy impair'd his health , for naturally he was of a good constitution , says g g Tom. 6. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 450. St. Chrysostom , but by extraordinary Fastings , and drinking of Water , he fell into that state of weakness , that needed the Apostles compassion . The particulars of Origens voluntary poverty , laboriousness and mortification , are sum'd up by h h Hist. Eccles. l. 6. c. 3. Eusebius ; and it was the method of the antient Monks to use arts to lessen their sleep , and subdue their carnal appetites , of which examples Cassianus and Theodoret afford plenty , i i Chrys. Tom. 2. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in S. Matth. p. 353. Men that disciplin'd themselves by Fastings , Humicubations , and Sack-cloath , and a thousand such hardships . So k k Orat. 2. in laud. S. Basil . p. 358. St. Greg. Naz. describes his admirable friend St. Basil , though the Primate of Cappadocia , That he had but one coat , and one upper Garment , that his lyings on the ground , watchings , and abstinence from bathings were his most decorous ornaments , bread and salt his greatest delicacies , and his strongest drink water , the effect of which ill diet he confesses were many distempers , but however , this was both St. Basils and his Encomiasts common study and employment ; and by these means it came to pass , that the life of the first was a burthen to him , and the last was forc'd to lay aside his Episcopal Office , wanting strength to go through the duties of it . And thus the a a Basil . Ep. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 996. vide Sozom . l. 6. c. 6. de Basil . good Arch-Bishop answers the Officer of the Apostate Emperor Julian , that demanded a 1000 pounds of him , That he had not so much in store , as would serve to buy him Bread that day , his best dainties being only a few Herbs , a morsel of Bread , and a little flat sowr Wine . And when b b Tom. 7. Ep. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Cyriaco e●uli . p. 169. St. Chrysostome was accused of entertaining a Woman in his Chamber , and lying with her , he invalidates the Argument by no other Topick , but this , Strip me of my cloaths , and you shall see all my members so mortified , that that very sight will confute the calumny . These severities alter'd the countenances of the Holy Men of those days , and introduc'd a livid wanness , and the symptomes of the Grave into their faces , and expos'd them to the censures of the Infidels . Lucian bringing in Critias into the Christian Assembly to see nothing but a company of men , with their faces inclining to the earth , and deformed with paleness ; nor could any thing less be expected from those , that used customarily to fast ten days , and spent the whole night in singing Hymns .

XIII . And is it not hard measure , that so many persons , who were of the same persuasion with Tertullian , both before and after him , should escape censure , and all the guilt of such Opinions should light on his Head only ? But so have we seen Clemens of Alexandria acquitted , for holding the salvability of Daemons , but his Scholar Origen condemn'd for the same , the Millenary Opinion , the belief of the whole second Century , but branded for Heresie in Apollinaris , and Cyprian allowed to assert re-baptization , while in the Donatist it was Heterodoxy ; and all for want of a little Christian condescension , and a generous Charity . And in truth , what are all Tertullians Discourses , after he was so infected , but Apologies for greater and more solemn acts of self-denial , his Exhortatio castitatis , and De Monogamia , to decry the incontinence of second Marriages ; De fuga in persecutione , to upbraid the cowardise of those , that durst not die for their Master , ( which is also the subject of his De Corona militis ) his Books De Jejuniis , a vindication of frequent Fastings , and De Pudicitia , a Satyr against those that admitted Adulterers to the Communion ; and what more sublime demonstrations of a mortified soul , though the precepts were taught in the School of Montanus ?

XIV . But I know not how to reconcile these Opinions with the practices of some of that Sect , if we may believe c c Apud Euseb. l. 5. c. 17. Hier. Catal. v. Apollon . Apollonius , asserting that Prisca and Maximilla were guilty of the most profligate , and unpardonable extravagancies . Against this Apollonius Tertullian writ , not in vindication of these excesses , but to prove Montanus to be a Prophet , and that his Ecstasies were Divine : Vide Euseb. l. 5. c. 3. for Prophecy did continue till that time in the Church , of which Quadratus , and after him Gregory Neo-Caesariensis are instances , and S. Cyprian frequently talks of his Visions ; so that it was no difficult matter for one that had but little skill and insight into nature , as Tertullian had , to be deluded . And in truth what more plausible and bold charms can we meet with , than those of Montanus's she-Proselytes ? who so confidently pretended to enjoy those spiritual Charismata , especially that of Prophecy in succession to S. John , Quadratus , and others ; of whom Prisca ( for I suppose Tertullian means her , whom he a a De Resurrect. carn. p. 19. D. Ed. Rhen. elsewhere stiles the Prophetess acted by the Paraclete , to confute those who denied the Resurrection ) took on her to boast of her b b Id. de anima p. 250. A. B. Revelations , which on the Sunday at the publick meeting communicated themselves to her in an Ecstasy , in which she assured the deluded Vulgus , that she convers'd with Angels , and sometimes with Christ himself , that she both saw and heard Mysteries , and knew the thoughts of some persons , and the matter of her Visions was taken either from the Lessons or Psalms for the day , from the Sermons or the Prayers , which after the end of the Service , when the multitude was dismiss'd , she committed to the select followers of Montanus , who took care to record them . Tertullian while she was in one of these Ecstasies was discoursing of the nature of the Soul , she returning out of her Trance tells him , that she saw a Soul in that Vision not of a pure spiritual substance , but thin and airy , and of a bright colour , and in all its lineaments of a humane form and shape . This either gave rise to his Opinion , or at least confirm'd him in his belief of the corporeity of the Soul . c c De fuga in persecut. c. 9. p. 194. C. D. The like Prophecies inclin'd him to think it unlawful to fly in time of Persecution , If , says he , you consult the dictates of the holy spirit , those divine exhortations advise to embrace , not to fly Martyrdome , that lays its commands on men not to defire to die in their beds , or by the short fits of an easie disease ; but by the pains of Martyrdome , that he , who suffer'd for us , may be glorified in us ; that tells thee , that he that is expos'd and proscrib'd in the world , is in a glorious condition for he that is not proscrib'd by the World , shall be proscrib'd by God . Nor is he without his Vision d d De Virgin . veland . p. 178. E. for the necessity of Virgins being vayled .

XV. But it is very considerable , that there were many differences between this Ecstatick , and the true Revelation , ( the Writers of the Church frequently calling that of Montanus , a new and unheard of way of Prophecy ) i. the followers of that Pseudo paraclete were acted by a violent and frantick Afflatus , and their raptures discover'd themselves in furious and wild Schemes of action , and not in that quiet , peaceable and serene way , in which the true Ecstasie made it self known ; the true Prophet , whose impressions were made on his reason , never suffering any alienation of mind , to which the pretended Enthusiast was liable , because his influences rise no higher than his fancy , and by the extravagant motions of that , and his passions introduc'd disorder and distraction into his reason , Miltiades , & Apollonius apud Euseb. lib. 5. c. 16. Epiphan. haer . 48. Hier. praefat. in Isai . & alibi passim . prae aliis Chrysost. Tom. 3. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in 1 Cor. 12. p. 430. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . so that he spake what himself understood not ( as the Poets describe the Pythian Priestesses , rather like mad-Women , than devout , and religious persons ) * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Clem. Alex. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 228. D. vide Naz. Orat. 14. p. 221. & Orat. 23. p. 414. & Orat. 25. p. 441. the Fathers calling such pretenders to Revelation in Ecstasie the Ministers of Satan , and men acted by an evil spirit in opposition to the spirit of God , and in set Tractates undertaking to evince , that a Prophet ought not to speak in an Ecstasie , as do the Books of Pope Miltiades and Apollonius , which Eusebius mentions . That the Montanist Enthusiasts had their Ecstasies Tertullian grants ; but denies that they fell into any rageings , and fits of fury , and would undertake to a a Tert. adv. Marc. l. 4. c. 22. prove , that the true Prophets were so acted from the example of S. Peter , who on the Holy Mount , Luke 9.33 . would have three Tabernacles rear'd , one for his Master , another for Moses , and a third for Elias , not knowing what he said , for says he , how was he ignorant ? was it from the erroneous notions that then possess'd his mind , or from some extraordinary grace and assistance , that threw him into an Ecstasie ? For that man , who is acted by the spirit of God , especially when he sees the glory of God , or God speaks by him , must necessarily be deprived of his senses , being overshadowed and amazed by the brightness of the divine power . And this , says he , is the Question between us , and the Psychici , i. the Orhthodox . But herein Tertullian went alone , it being apparent , that S. Peter's mistake proceeded from his ignorance of the state of glorified bodies , and that the Masters among the Jews , and all the Fathers acknowledge , that the Prophets had a clear light and apprehension of what was communicated unto them , and that correspondent thereunto their deportment was grave and their demeanour sober . Tertullian therefore was very happy , when he more than once renders Ecstasis by Amentia , their raptures being nothing else , but fits of madness , wherein they were acted by an assistant Daemon to reveal strange things . Melancholy , and a busie swelling fancy , with a little help from Satan , the great pretender to Oracles , easily setting up a confident cheat to imitate the dictates and inspirations of the true Prophets .

XVI . Secondly , The false Prophets of Montanus were of very vitious lives and conversations , notwithstanding their great pretences to extraordinary strictness and mortifications ; but the true spirit of God will not dwell in unhallowed minds ; b b

Talmud . Gemar . Joma . c. 2. Abarban . pref. in 12. prophet . Maimon . Mor. Nev. p. 2. c. 32. &c.

Philo 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; p. 424. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Vid. Orig. contr. Cels . lib. 7.

the Jewish Masters affirming , that he that will be a true Prophet , must be acted by a spirit of true probity and piety , must be an humble man , a man of wisdom and fortitude , and who hath gotten a conquest over his passions . And to this agrees S. Peter , 2 Ep. 1. ch. v. 21. That they were holy men , that spake , as they were inspired by God . And so the Fathers did believe , that those that had such uncommon assistances of the spirit of God , were men whose souls were purified by the light of a sublime reason , and whose lives were guided by that light . But a a Apollin . a●ud Euseb . ● 5. c. 15. Montanus himself was a man of unsatiable ambition , and covetousness , of an ungovern'd wildness and impudency , and his b b Apollonius ●pud eund . ● 5. c. 18. Prophetesses were Adulteresses , so far from being Virgins , as was boasted , that they deserted their Husbands to follow this Pseudoparaclete , they were addicted to the use of Fucus , and painting , to gawdery and intemperance , and unlawful games , to putting their money to use , and to what not ? and Theodotus , Themison and Alexander , and other of their followers were notorious profligate wretches , and at last Montanus and his two female Proselytes fell into the condemnation of Judas , and were their own executioners , and now let the tree be judg'd of by the fruit .

XVII . Thirdly , The Predictions of the true Prophets were always fulfill'd , but the Revelations of Maximilla were like the old Oracles , at best dubious , and many times very false ; she undertaking to threaten the world with Wars and Seditions that should scourge the Church , if her dotages were not embrac'd ; c c Apollinaris ubi supr. whereas the Father observes , that from the death of that Impostress to the time of his Writing , there had past 13 years , in which there was a profound peace over all the World , but more especially the Church enjoyed her serene and quiet days , and was free from Persecution ; and she also d d Epiphan. haeres. 48. Prophesied , that after her decease there should not arise another Prophet , but the consummation of all things should commence ; whereas the World yet continues . Fourthly , True Prophecy is a spirit , which descending from above is not to be controll'd by any thing but that supreme power that gives the inspiration , who bestows and retrieves it at his pleasure ; but when these Ecstatick cheats appear'd in the World , the good Fathers of that age undertook to exorcise the Daemoniack , and cast out the evil Guest ; e e Serapion , Apollinaris , Apollonius apud Euseb. l. 5. c. 15 , 17 , 18. Zoticus Bishop of Comana in Pontus resolving to undertake the action , but the Montanists oppos'd it .

XVIII . Fifthly , The true Prophets had never granted them against the ordinary and establisht Government of the Church , the Prophets of the old Testament being to be judged by the Consistory , and of the New by the Church ( against which I can only find one instance of Elijah at Mount Carmel superseding a positive law ) but these men were guilty of introducing new doctrines , of opposing and reviling their Ecclesiastical Superiors , and broach'd Opinions that contradicted the word of God ; Montanus himself , says a a Ubi supr. Epiphanius , affirming , That the righteous at the day of judgment shall be a hundred times brighter than the Sun , and the wicked a hundred times brighter than the Moon . And what makes me most of all suspect the cheat , is , that this Afflatus made it self appear only at set times by Tertullian's own confession , usually on the Sunday , and that only during the celebration of Divine Service , when the people were gather'd together ( like our Modern Quakers pretences to the spirit to assist them in their publick discourses , as that thought fit , which now no longer acts them , but at set intervals ) and that the subject of the Prophecy was hinted to the Enthusiast from some passage or other in the Prayers , or Lessons , or Sermons of the Church : whereas the true spirit of God tyed not its self to such Methods , nor could be confin'd within such limits , and needed not such concurrent circumstances , from whence it might take the measures of its discoveries ; but as a free , and uncontroll'd agent shed its influences on the mind of the Prophet , at what seasons , and in what degrees were best lik'd of by the supreme Inspirer . Thus the Devil , as they say , can take upon him the shape of a man , Naz. Orat. 25. p. 441. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Id. Orat. 14. p. 221. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. but cannot so wholly play the counterfeit , but that by a Satyrs tail , or a cloven foot he will be betray'd to a severe and diligent inspector : so when he seizes the Prophets Mantle to abuse the World , there are some peculiar excellencies of the holy spirit , that he may pretend to , but cannot really assume .

XIX . And for vindicating these usurp'd Priviledges were the Books of Tertullian justly depriv'd of their esteem , says Mr. H. p. 117. out of S. Hierome , Bellarmine , and others ; but I will oppose against them the judgment of S. Cyprian , who could not live a day without reading some Paragraph in this his Master , and from whom in truth he hath borrowed many passages of his excellent Writings , and the design of many of them too , of which there is no need to give instances ; and who is there , that is a lover of learning and piety , who does not heartily bemoan the fall of so eminent a man ? the errors of whose blind , but honest zeal , I hope God hath pardon'd , and that though the Church allows him no memorial in her Records , his name is written in the Book of Life .

XX. Of his writings which he left behind him , many are lost , as his Treatise of the troubles attending Marriage , which is by Mr. H. made two distinct Books , under the same Title in Latine , and in English , p. 124. and 126. his Tract of the Corporeity of the Soul , is the same with that de Anima which is extant , and wherein he maintains that Opinion ; and I believe that Trithemius was also mistaken in entitling him to a Book contra omnes Haereses , which I think was only his most acute Book of Prescriptions against Hereticks , with another Prologue : his Books of the habit of Women , and the decking of Women , are only two parts of the same discourse de Cultu foeminarum , the Tractate de poenitentia , accounted suppositious , p. 145. is undoubtedly his , as Baronius and Pamelius have evinc'd against Erasmus , which plainly appears , says a a Not. p. 120. Rigaltius , to any man that is a Reader of Tertullian .

XXI . His Stile is masculine sublime , and full of Majesty , and such as commands submission , making as many Conquests as he finds Readers , says b b Commonit . c. 24. Vincentius Lirinensis of him ; but it is rough and uneven , full of obsure ways of speaking , and Novelties in Grammar , which call for a very attentive and thoughtful Reader , De geniculis adorare , to pray kneeling ; in candido expectare , & aeternitatis candidatus , to look for the day of judgment . So Martyrii candida , the robes of Martyrdom ; dies expeditionis , & dies Christianae exultationis , the day of account ; which day shall supremam carni fibulam imponere . Invidiam Deo facere , to incline God to repent — animam in conficato habere — prae sperâsse , duricordia , imbonitas , &c. but at the same time full of Elegancies , his very Barbarismes being very witty and taking , and made very palatable by that salt and sarcastical Vein , which runs through all his writings ( of which the Margin affords a few instances ) which affected stile of his serv'd much to the introducing so many inconvenient descriptions as happen in his writings , for which not a few learned men have turn'd Advocates .

XXII . His Opinion that Montanus was the Paraclete , implyed no more , but that there were nobler assistances and influences of that holy Spirit shed on Montanus , than on others , that he might thereby be capacitated in the most perfect and accomplisht manner , to explain the Laws of the Gospel to the World , as the judicious c c Life of Tertull. sect. 9. p. 208. Dr. Cave vindicates him ; for I shall never be perswaded , that he took Montanus for the Person of the Holy Ghost , as the Pepuzians did , who baptiz'd their Proselytes 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as says d d Tom. 2. Epist. Canonic. 1. ad Amphiloch . p. 758. S. Basil , into the name of the Father , the Son , and Montanus : And in truth , Tertullian in his Book adversùs Praxeam , doth often very plainly distinguish the Holy Ghost , and Montanus : the Opinions of Free-will , the Angels incontinency , and the Millennium have been already consider'd , and that of second Marriages : his Assertion concerning the Lent-fast , and Stations , is far from being a Maxim of the School of that Novel Paraclete , but were of Apostolical Institution , as hath been unanswerably prov'd by the most learned Bishop Gunning , in his Sermon of the Paschal Fast , and the matter of fact deduc'd through all the antient Saecula ; a Book that hath been scoft at by Mervil , and others , but never soberly undertook ; as we have seen a Rat nibling at a hard piece of Cheese which he could not eat .

XXIII . That Martyrdome expiates all a mans transgressions , is so far from being an errour of Tertullian's , as it is reckon'd , p. 167. that it was the belief of the whole Church , which by these instances will appear : a a Apud Euseb. hist. lib. 6. cap. 4. Origen commending his Scholar Herais , who was martyred at Alexandria , when as yet she was but a Catechumen , says , that she was baptiz'd so as by fire ( which Tertullian calls secunda solatia , lavacrum sanguinis , elegantly ) and b b Id. hom. 11. in Numer . vide hom. 7. in Judic . & hom. 12. in Matth. taking notice , that many times the greatest Zealots of Martyrdome were deprived of that honour ( of which himself was an instance ) gives this reason , that the Devil hindred the persecution , because he knew that Martyrdome brought with it remission of sins . This was Catholick Doctrine , which he learnt from his Master Clemens Alexandrinus , who c c 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 350. affirms , that for this cause we call Martyrdome a state of perfection , not that the Martyrs come to the end of their journey as other men do , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Greg. Naz. Orat. 44. p. 715. but that by this method they give a testimony of the height and compleatness of their love . Thus when Saturus was devoured by the Leopards , the shedding of his blood was a new baptism , say d d Acta passion . SS. Perpetuae , Faelicitat . the Acts of his Martyrdome : Nay , this is a more efficacious , sublime , and honourable baptism , says e e De Exhort . Martyr . praefat. p. 19⅔ . S. Cyprian , in which God and his Christ rejoyce , and after which no man can sin ; in that of water we receive remission of sins , in that of blood the reward of our Virtues ; in the first we are Gods servants , in the second his friends ; f f Id. de Orat . dominic . p. 159. for what sin is it which Martyrdome cannot expiate ? for here men are not typically buried with Christ , as in baptism , but in reality , and truth ; and need not , says g g Tom. 2. de Spir. S. c. 15. p. 178. S. Basil , the Symbol of water to their salvation , being baptized in their own blood ; for this was the Baptism with which Christ was baptiz'd , says h h Iom . 1. Orat . 39. p. 634. vide Nicet . comment . in loc. tom. 2. p. 1035. S. Gregory the Divine , which is so much more venerable than any other Baptism , in that it is never polluted with any succeeding Crimes : And this i i Contr. Donat. l. 4. c. 22. & de C. D. l. 13. c. 7. & passim . S. Austin confirms by the example of the penitent Thief on the Cross ; as the Infants at Bethlehem are for this reason called Martyrs by k k Lib. 3. c. 18. Irenaeus , and so accounted by the Church .

XXIV . It was a bold , but true speech of a holy man , says l l Tem. 3. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in Ephes. p. 822. S. Chrysostome , that Martyrdome will not expiate the crime of Schism ; implying , that it purges all other sins , a passage which he borrowed from S. Cyprian , m m De unitat . Eccles. p. 152. For he cannot be a Martyr , who is not in the Church : For the Saviour of the World , says S. n n Cateches. ● . p. 60. Ed. 1608. Cyril of Jerusalem , being to purge it by his Cross , there came out of his side both water and blood , that they who lived in the time of peace might be baptiz'd with water , and those who were confined to the times of persecution , might be baptized in their own blood : And so the wisdome of the Father calls Martyrdome , when he says , Can ye drink of the Cup that I drink of , or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with . q q De dogmat . Eccles. c. 73. Gennadius gives the same judgment in behalf of the Church of the Century that he liv'd in ; We believe that none can be saved but the baptized , no Catechumen having a share in that glorious place , whatever his virtues be , unless he be a Martyr , which is equivalent to baptism . And does not a a De moute peregri● . p. 99● . Lucian hint at this , when mentioning the chearfulness of the Christians , and their contempt of death , he gives the cause , because they were perswaded that the whole man shall be immortal , and they shall live for ever : Which as it may relate to the immortality of the Body after the Resurrection , so also to the benefits of Martyrdome , that it cancels their sins , and gives them a free passage to Heaven .

XXV . This therefore was not Tertullian's errour , but a Catholick truth ; nor does it want Assertors among the Moderns ; for the foreign Churches , see b b Loc. Gold . sect. de b●ptis . p. 542. Musculus , and for our own , c c Def. of Mr. Hooker . art. 16. p. 111 , 112. Dr. Covel is her Advocate , that the Church holdeth constantly , touching Martyrs , that Baptism taken away by necessity , doth not take away the necessity of Baptism ; God who hath not bound his Grace , with respect to his own freedome , to any Sacrament , may and doth accept them as baptized , which are Martyred before they could be baptized : For as in baptism by Water , it is not the washing , but the answer of a good Conscience that confers remission of sins , so is it here : And what greater testimony could be given to the world of the reality of such Protestations , than being slain for that Faith ? and as the baptismal Laver confers Grace , where there is no hinderance on the part of the baptized , so is it in the case of the Martyrs being sprinkled with his own blood : for it is to be supposed , that nothing but a generous love to God and Religion , could inspire him with so much courage ; for it is next door to impossible , says d d Homil. de Virginib . S. Gregory the Great , that a man should give his body to be burnt , if he have not mortified his lusts .

XXVI . Sect. 7. p. 169. we are told , that Rhenanus out of Rhegino makes Tertullian a Martyr , but without grounds . I confess I have not that Historian by me , but suppose that it may be a mistake of the Judicious Rhenanus quoting Rhegino , for Ado Viennensis the Martyrologist , e e Martyr . ●om . Aug. 4. p. 528. who informs us of a Tertullian ( not our African ) a Presbyter , and Martyr at Rome , under the Emperour Valerian , who after he had endured the Rack , and several other most cruel torments , was beheaded ; which probably Rhenanus applied to this Presbyter of Carthage , whom I cannot suppose to have been admitted to that Crown , though none can deny him to have been an eminent Confessor , as was f f Ibid. Apr. 2. p. 285. another of his name , being the eighth Bishop of Bologne in Italy : And so I leave him to that peace in another world , of which , what by reason of his Heathen Adversaries , and what he suffer'd from his imbitter'd Brethren , he had but a small share in this .

THE LIFE OF Origen .

I. AT the same time that this most learned of the Latine Fathers gave the Western Churches a Specimen of his transcendent parts , Providence so ordered it , that the Eastern Nations should be blest with the labours of the most learned of the Greeks , Tertullian at Carthage , and Origen at Alexandria , shineing like Stars of the first Magnitude , as if Africk had ingrost all the literature of the World , and Athens were removed from Greece thither ; equally famous were they in their parts , their skill in the humane and sacred writings , equally admirable in their eager desires of Martyrdome , and transported passions for the glorifying their Master Jesus , ( and in an Age of Persecution , both missing that honour ) and as equally deplorable , that their wits were not bounded with a becoming sobriety , and their reasons , to which nothing else was invincible , should be overcome of their own extravagancies ; their sufferings , their censures were very like , while both of them lived at that time , when I fear many men scrupled not to sacrifice their charity to the preservation of their Faith ; and I suppose all good men , and lovers of the Liberal and holy Studies , will with a a Commonitor . cap. 23 , & 24 Vincentius Lirinensis , who joyns them , bedew their Ashes , and bemoan their Fate , at once applauding their prodigious accomplishments , and mourning the excesses of them .

II. b b Dr. Gaves Life of Origen . sect. 1. p. 215. Besides the Epithetes of Adamantius and Chalcenteros , which Mr. H. Sect. 1. p 171. well observes , were given him for his indefatigable studies , and invincible reasonings : his name was Origen , given him , say some , q. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , because born on a Mountain , viz. in the time of Persecution , that forc'd his Mother out of Alexandria , ( for as to the Jesuit Halloix's Whimsey , that Mountains in Scripture signifie holy men , it cannot but be exploded ) Vossius from Orus the Aegyptian Deity , but c c Not. in Philocal . p. 681. Tarinus , qu. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 vel 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , because born in due time , his Parents looking on him as a blessing opportunely sent from Heaven to them ; and says further , that in more than one Manuscript , he found his name written with an Aspirate , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 .

III. He was not full seventeen years old when his Father was beheaded ( who was a very learned , and very good man , and a Christian , though d d Apud Euseb. lib. 6. c. 13. Porphyry makes him a Heathen ) and not long after for his maintenance set up a School , wherein he taught Grammar , and without doubt the other Liberal Arts at Alexandria , and at eighteen was made Catechist of that famous Church there , in the stead of his Master Clemens , says a a Lib. 6. c. 3. Eusebius ; so that he must have been less than eighteen when he set up his School of Secular Learning first , though Mr. H. p. 174. deny it ; in which School he took Heraclas to be his Assistant , not till his return from Rome , says the same b b Ibid. c. 12. Historian ; whereas Mr. H. p. 175. devotes him to that Office before that journey , about which time he made himself an Eunuch for the Kingdom of Heaven , in the literal sense , either by some Medicinal preparations , as c c Epiphan. haer. 64. some understand it , or by abscission , as d d Epist. ad Pammach. & Ocean . tom. 2. p. 194. S. Hierome positively avers ; unhappy in this , that he that was so universally blamed for understanding all other passages of Scripture in an Allegorical and mystical way , should take this against our Saviours meaning in the literal .

This action at first was highly applauded , but afterwards as much decryed by Demetrius the Patriarch of Alexandria , and which I see not how it can be reconciled with that passage in e e Haer. 64. p. 228. Epiphanius , that he should rather chuse to offer sacrifice , than defile himself with a Negro , which must have been an impotent piece of revenge , and ill managed in his Assailants , the fame of his castrating himself having been spread among all persons by Demetrius , and his other Opponents , and impossible if S. Hierome's relation of it be true : but this Calumny hath been handsomely wip't off by f f Tom. 2. an. 253. p. 477. &c. Baronius , g g Ubi supr. sect. 15. p. 224 , 225. Dr. Cave , and others , among whom Mr. H. also p. 225 , 226. with reason enlists himself .

IV. The Sedition at Alexandria , which occasioned his first remove to Caesarea ( Eusebius calls it a Civil War ) was the result of a design of the Emperour Caracalla to ruine that City , against which he drew his Army , and inclined Origen to seek another place of refuge ; for the h h Spartian . in Caracalla . Historian tells us , that he had a particular spleen against the Philosophick Schools there , which he destroyed , because Aristotle was supposed to be an Accomplice in the poysoning of Alexander the Great , whose Ape Caracalla was : This anger was increas'd against the men of that City , for that he having publickly married his Mother-in-law Julia , the Mother of his Brother Geta , says i i Ubi supr. Spartianus , or rather his own Mother , as k k Lib. 4. p. 98. Ed. Steph. Herodian , Oppianus , and l l Not. in Euseb. Chr. an . 2232. p. 211. Scaliger , the Alexandrians , a sort of people naturally biting and satyrical , usually in an Ironical way call'd him Oedipus , and his Mother Jocasta , alluding to that known incestuous story ; whereupon to revenge himself , he pretends as if he would levy a new Legion among the people of that City , who flocking to him in great multitudes , and unarm'd , were inhumanely sacrificed to his cruelty , * * Herod . ubi supr. till the Nilus was died with their blood : In which rigorous proceedings of his , no doubt but the Philosophers , whose Schools he destroyed , were as little safe in their persons , as their Colledges , especially Origen , whose Master a a Hierocles de fato . p. 39. Edit. Londin. 1655. Ammonius had been the grand Instrument of reconciling the Academy , and Lycaeum , and combining the divers Families of the lovers of Wisdome into one Fraternity ; among whom no man was so admired , and talkt of , so courted and adored , both by the Christians and Heathens , as Origen , which might occasion his being particularly sought for ; and made it not only dangerous for him to stay at Alexandria , but equally unsafe for him to reside any where in that Province of Egypt , as b b Lib. 6. c. 13. Eusebius relates .

V. That Origen should take two journeys to Rome , one under Pope Zepherinus , the other under the Emperour Philip , as c c Tom. 2. an. 248. p. 435. Baronius avers , at which time he should come into Plotinus's School , as Mr. H. p. 187. out of the Cardinal relates , is a passage in which Eusebius and the Church-History is eternally silent ; and I suppose proceeded from a mistake of that Origen , whom Porphyry mentions in the life of Plotinus for our Alexandrian , who must needs have been two distinct persons ; the Elder a Presbyter of the Christian Church , but the Younger an Heathen Platonick , and a Fellow-Pupil under the tuition of Plotinus , says d d Vit. Porphyr . p. 19. Eunapius , with Porphyry , and Amerius , and Aquilinus ( or as Dr. Pearson would have it , Paulinus ) Now for this reason they cannot be the same , says that e e Prolegom . in Hierocl . de fato . excellent Prelate ; for Porphyry came not under the tuition of Plotinus , till that Sage man was old ; but Origen was twenty years elder than Plotinus , Plotinus being born An. 13. of Severus , whereas f f Hier. Catalog . v. Origenes . Origen , An. 10. of that Prince , when his Father was beheaded , was seventeen years old : It was therefore the Junior Origen a Heathen , and not our Alexandrian Catechist ( though Baronius , Holstenius , and others , opine the contrary ) who coming into Plotinus's School at Rome , occasioned him abruptly to put a period to his Lecture ; and to him we must attribute the Books which are ascribed to Origen by Longinus and Porphyry , ( among which his 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 are now extant in the Florentine Library ; and are , says Lucas Holstenius , very worthy to see the light ) but never mention'd by Eusebius , Hierome , or any other Father , as the works of our Origen ; and of this latter Origen , with submission to the judgment of the learned , would I understand those passages in a a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . apud Phot. cod . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 285. & cod . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 750. Hierocles , that the most eminent Scholars of Ammonius of Alexandria were Plotinus , and Origen , to which I am inclin'd , because a little after he reckons him with Jamblichus , and Porphyry , and the rest , who were of the holy Family , i. of the second Family of Plato , which begun in Ammonius , and was continued by those excellent persons down to Plutarch the Athenian ( the Great Plutarch , as Marinus in the life of Proclus stiles him ) for I cannot believe that Hierocles would have reckon'd Origen after Plotinus , had he meant this Alexandrian Catechist , who was for age twenty years elder than Plotinus , and for Seniority in the School of Ammonius more ; for Origen must have been under his tuition before his seventeenth year , when he set up a School for himself : but Plotinus , as Porphyry tells us , was 28 years of age when he came to Alexandria , where he continued under the tuition of Ammonius eleven years , and came not to Rome till the first year of the Emperour Philip.

VI. Now before the eleventh year of Alexander Severus , when Plotinus first came to Alexandria , b b Euseb. l. 6. c. 20. Origen had been driven from thence , viz. An. 10. of that Prince ; ( having resign'd his School to Heraclas his Scholar , who was in a short time after chosen Patriarch of that See ) whither we never find that he return'd again : So that it is next door to impossible , that they should be Scholars together under Ammonius , and that Origen should be the person of that name , of whom and Ammonius , Porphyry tells us , Plotinus took his leave at his departure ; but the Chronology will be inconfused , if this passage be understood of the Heathen Origen , who was a Compupil with Plotinus at Alexandria , and afterward probably leaving that City , came to Rome , and put himself with Porphyry under the tuition of his former Companion ; to whom at his first entrance into that School , we may apply that story that Plotinus gave over his Lecture , professing that he had no encouragement to discourse to those , who understood such sublime matters as well as himself . This latter Origen was Porphyry's intimate acquaintance at Rome , but the former only a person whom he had ordinarily convers'd with , not at Alexandria , as c c Commonit . c. 23. Vincentius Lirinensis mistaking Eusebius hath it , and from him d d De Vit. & Script . Porphyr . cap. 2. Holstenius , for Origen was driven from Alexandria that very year , in which Porphyry was born , viz. an. 10. of Alexander Mammeae , but at Tyre , where Origen spent much of his old age , and that Philosopher had his Birth , and where in his youth being taken with his fame and learning , he possibly began a small friendship with him .

VII . His studious Allegorizing of holy Writ he took up in imitation of his Master Clemens , who was a great admirer of Philo the Jew , one much addicted to that vein of Commenting : but a a Apud Eus. ubi supr. vid. Hier. Apol. 3. Adv. Ruff. Tom. 2. p. 249 , 250. Porphyry says , that he borrowed it of the Greeks , who observ'd this custom in explaining their mysteries , which he applyed to the Jewish Scriptures , having to this purpose made himself Master of the Writings of Plato and Numenius , Apollophanes and Longinus , Nicomechus and Cheraemon , and other Pythagoreans , and Stoicks , and of this the learned Dr. Windet's Tractate De Pythagorae , & Origenis Vitis , & Decretorum 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , * * Promis'd in his de vita functorum statu . Sect. 5. p. 106. if extant , is questionless a great instance . And for this way of interpretation is . Origen slighted by many Moderns , but by Beza especially ( a man , that came infinitely behind him in point of learning , and went an aequi-pace with him in errors ) in whose b b Praef. ante vers. Nov. Test . & . Ep. 28. & in Rom. 8.3 . stile he is the most impure of all Christian Writers , and an Author justly execrated , and so altogether Heterodox , that he deserves no authority in the Christian Church . But Beza herein shews himself too severe an Aristarchus , while he so readily pronounces ( as if he spake è cathedrâ ) a decretory sentence against so admirable a person , whom the succeeding ages of the Church thought so well of , that S. Hilary , and Eusebius of Vercelli , Victorinus , and S. Ambrose , S. Austin , S. Gregory the great , and , says S. Hierome , who not among the Fathers , followed so exactly , as to borrow many a passage from him , which hath had the good luck to be Catholick doctrine in them , while proscribed as Heterodoxy in Origen .

VIII . But I shall oppose against Beza the judgment of the excellent c c Enchirid. Milit. Christ . c. 2. Erasmus , who prescribes to him , that would live piously the choice of such interpreters above others , and d d Id. c. 13. blames our later Divines , some for contemning this Method , others for handling it jejunely , and unfruitfully . And what an encouragement does this humor of Beza give to the Socinians to continue their slighting of all antiquity , e e Jun. Cath. doctrin . de Trinit. defens . 1. p. 17. for this very reason ? because they indulge to a vein of allegory , whereas it is not out of a design to supplant or supersede the literal meaning , but to make the word of God serviceable to all honourable purposes . And because Erasmus may be suspected , I will match Beza with a famous person of the Calvinist Churches , f f Of the right use of the Fathers . l. 1. c. 1. Mons. Daillée , who is so far from thinking this Allegorical way a blemish , that he positively avers , if all Origens Works were extant , they would perchance afford us greater helps to the quieting of the present disputes and controversies in Religion , than all the other Fathers .

IX . Origen among the antient Worthies was the first Master of the Hebrew Language , but a a Animadv . in Euseb. Chron. p. 109. Scaliger denies him to have had any skill in the Samaritan . His Sermons many of them doubtless were spoken Extempore , and written by his Notaries and others , of whose dexterity that way we have a large account by b b P. 222 , 223. vide Lipsii Ep. Select . Ep. 35. Leonardo Lessio . Dr. Cave , and others ; This way of speaking without premeditation was a customary usage of many of the Fathers , especially S. Chrysostom , and is the reason why the Homilies of that golden-mouth'd Orator at Antioch are more elaborate both for stile and matter , than those which he Preach'd at Constantinople ; his leasure , when a Presbyter , Phot. Cod. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 201. permitting him to pen and digest his Sermons , which he wanted when a Bishop ; as he that compares his Homilies on Genesis , the Acts and Epistles , with his 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and Panegyricks , must confess . This Mode of fluent discourse was first introduc'd by the Father of the Sophists c c Plato in Gorgia Philostr . vit. Sophist . l. 1. Valer. Max. l. 8. c. 15. Gorgias Leontinus , who at the Olympick games , or any other solemn convention was wont to challenge any man to give him a subject ( his word was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , says Philostratus ) and on that , whatever it were , would speak pertinently a considerable time ; for which the Greeks erected him a Statue of pure Gold in the Temple of Apollo , whereas an Effigies gilt was the greatest honor any other person ever attain'd to . And here I cannot pretermit remarking the bitter censure of d d Tom. 2. an. 220. p. 359. Baronius , that it befel Origen in making so much haste , as Solomon threatens , Prov. 20.21 . That an inheritance may be gotten hastily , but the end thereof shall not be blessed .

X. The loss of the Works of this deserving Antient ( among which we may chiefly mourn the Octapla ) is very deplorable , and of those that are left , we have but a few in their native Language , but in Latine ( and whoever his Translators were , whether Jerome , Ruffinus , or others , they are wanting to fidelity , as well as elegance , and prostitute the honor of Origen ) but still we have more of his Works in Greek , than Mr. H. p. 200. acknowledges , who mentions only the Books against Celsus , and the Philocalia . Whereas to omit the Dialogues against the Marcionites lately set out by Wetsteinius at Basil 1674. ( which are only Collections out of the Works of Origen by Maximus , or some other Antient , and set out in his name ) we have by the same Editor the Tractate De Martyrio , and the Epistle to Julius Africanus perfect , ( which long before was publisht imperfectly by Heschelius at Auspurgh , an. 1602. and since by the Collectors of the Critici in the 8th Tome . ) The discourse De Engastrimutho was publish'd by Leo Allatius , and is doubtless a part of his Comments on 1 Reg. 17. ( to omit the Treatise De Oratione , the MSS. Copies whereof are in the Libraries at Cambridge , and elsewhere ) these of his Tractates are extant in Greek , and Mons. Huet hath lately at Paris given the World a new Edition of the Comments of this Father , where in their native stile we have 17 Homilies on the Prophet Jeremy , 7 Tomes on S. Matthew , and 9 Tomes on S. Johns Gospel , and all these his genuine and uncontroverted Works . But I perceive that Mr. H. is a stranger to this last and best Edition , and it would be pardonable to a man that lives retired and a great way from such conveniences , did a a Praef. to his 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . he not tell us , that he hath given his reader as full a Catalogue as could be gotten , of whatever bears the Fathers name , with a hint of what kind they are , whether genuine , spurious , or dubious . Which promise how it hath been fulfilled , while he never mentions Vossius's Edition of Ignatius , or Huets Origen , I leave to the reader to judge .

XI . Many also of the Books , which he p. 206 , 207 , reckons as lost , are extant ; as for example , his discourse of Martyrdome , his Epitome of the History of Susanna , which is an Epistle of his in answer to Julius Africanus , his Homily , De Engastrimutho , and one Epistle more to Gregory Thaumaturgus ex●ant in the Philocalia . Among his Comments affirm'd to be lost , the Homily on the Song of Hannah is extant even in Merlin's Edition , as is also that on the second Book of the Kings , of Solomon's judgment between the two Harlots in Huets Edition ; the Comments on Job were written after the Arian Controversie began , probably by Maximinus ; the Homilies on the Canticles are discarded by Erasmus , Amerbachius , Cook , and others , but vindicated by Merlin , Genebrard , and our Reverend b b Vindic. Ep. Ign. part. 1. c. 7. p. 106. &c. Pearson ; and in truth the judgment of Erasmus ( whom most men blindly follow ) and his Acumen , which for the most part happily assisted him in censuring the Works of the Latine Fathers , wonderfully failed him , when he played the Critick with the Greek . Mr. H. also p. 217. mentions but 14. Homilies in Jerem. whereas there are 17 extant in the Paris Edition .

XII . Many of his Works which are lost , are omitted by Mr. H. as his Homilies on Deuteronomy , the Chronicles , Ezra , and Nehemiah , and Daniel , his Comments in Veteres Philosophos , his Dialogues De Resurrectione , and Disputations with Beryllus , which were Origen's genuine Writings . These supposititious Tractates also are omitted ( the Commentaries on S. Mark , the Scholia on the Lords Prayer , &c. ) Origen also is intituled to two Books , De Visione 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ad Gratam , which c c Prooem. in l. 1. Comment. in Isai . S. Hierome says , are falsly father'd on Origen , but I think them to be a part of his Comments on the Evangelical Prophet , of which d d Hist. l. 6. c. 25. Eusebius says , he saw 30 Tomes as far as the Vision of the Four-footed Beasts in the Desart . Some also e e Phot. Cod. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 16. father'd on him the Book of Gaius the Roman Presbyter , called the Labyrinth , but wrongly : and it were to be wish'd , that the Epistle of S. Jerome ad Paulam , wherein he designedly enumerates the Works of this Father , and compares him with Varro , were extant , that the great enemies of this most learned man might see of what a treasure their spight and envy hath rob'd the World of wise men and Christians .

XIII . In his discourse of the stupendious undertaking of the Octapla , the loss whereof is more easily talk'd of than retriev'd , this is omitted , that in the Edition of the Psalms a a Hist. l. 6. c. 12. Eusebius reckons one Version more than the common Interpreters , which different Translation I suppose to be that which the Fathers call the Vulgar Translation , and which as appears by S. Hierom's Epistle ad Suniam , & Fretelam was the same with the inemendate Edition of the 70 , Consul . Woweri syntagm . de 70 Interp. c. 11. but vastly different from the more correct Copy of Origen , which he who reads that Epistle may see proved at large . Nor did the two Anonymous Copies found at Jericho and Nicopolis , contain a Version of the whole Old Testament , as Mr. H. intimates , but only of some certain Books , those as I conjecture , which we call the Hagiographa , which b b Ubi supr. Eusebius calls the Psalms , and c c Comment. in Tit. 3. S. Hierome , Libri , qui apud Hebraeos versu compositi sunt , The Books among the Hebrews , which were writ in Verse . Of all which several Versions , the Original Copy of Symmachus came to the Fathers hands by the gift of Juliana , a Virgin at Caesarea , with whom he took refuge during the Persecution , and on whom it devolv'd either by right of inheritance , or being d d Euseb. l. 6. c. 14. given her by the Author ; which very Copy e e Hist. Lausiac . c. 51. Palladius says he saw , in which all these particulars were attested under Origen's own hand .

XIV . His style Mr. H. p. 22⅞ . commends for its brevity and succinctness , whereas it is too luxuriant , and he abounds in words ; and this was a crime which Eustathius lays to his charge , and with him Epiphanius , whose objection favours of more envy than prudence , especially the last , who was a profess'd enemy of the name of Origen , and will allow him to have done nothing well but his Octapla ; and yet while he is so severe a Critick to animadvert the stile of this eloquent Priest , he that looks into his , f f Phot. Cod. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 p 162. shall find it rugged and dry , and drest in a vulgar way of expressing himself , that bids defiance to the ornaments of Language . But his manner of speaking was not all which the Bishop of Salamis objected against Origen ( it being as regular to expect that all mens faces should be alike , as their stiles ) but he with Theophilus of Alexandria , Eustathins of Antioch , Methodius , and Apollinaris ( a Quarternion of slanderers g g Hist. Eccl. l. 6. c. 7 , 9 , 12. Socrates calls them ) in several Synods condemn'd his writings as Heretical , and forbad the reading of them , which occasion'd that hot quarrel between S. Chrysostome and Epiphanius , wherein we may see an instance of the infirmities of the greatest men , when their passions transport them to bitterness and evil speaking ; and the hand of Heaven appear'd signally in it , if we may believe a a Ibid. c. 13. Socrates , who tells us that it was reported , that at the parting of these two famous Prelates at Constantinople , Epiphanius told S. Chrysostome , that he hop'd he should never die a Bishop , to which the Patriarch retorts , that he as firmly hop'd , that Epiphanius should never return home in safety ; and both fell out true ; Epiphanius dying on Ship-board before he reach'd Cyprus , and S. Chrysostome a little while after in banishment . But this was a very irregular method of finding out and countenancing Orthodoxy , and wherein they might have followed a better pattern of two men as famous as any in that Century in a similar question , viz. S. Athanasius and S. Basil , who differ'd about the writings of Dionysius of Alexandria , the first asserting them to be Orthodox , the last that there was something of Arianisme couched in them , yet neither denounc'd the other Heretick , but amidst their different sentiments maintain'd an amicable correspondence .

XV. Such was the harsh fate of this admirable man , who was not only forc'd to experiment the envy of the world while alive , but was hindred taking refuge in the grave , which is the sanctuary of the miserable ; excommunicate while alive , and as if that were not enough , excommunicate after his death too , and that not by the hot and irrational zeal of a few private persons , but by the mouth of a b b Com. C. P. general. 5. anathem . 11. General Council , and rank'd in the same Classe with Arius , Macedonius , Nestorius , and Eutyches , and other most infamous Hereticks . The custome I cannot dislike , but heartily wish , that this learned and pious man lay not under such severe censures . For though it seems uncouth to punish any man when he is gone out of the World , and hath answered God for his Opinions , yet there was great reason , that the Church should so proceed in the case ; for how else in truth could the antient Hereticks have been expos'd , who liv'd before the age of General Councils , and when few or no Provincial ones could be had ? and how should the Church curse a Heretick , till she knew him to be so ? when as many times the wretch kept himself within the Catholick Communion under the Masque of his Hypocrisie , and the Vizard was never taken off till after his death , when by a severer scrutiny into his assertions and writings , the Impostor was detected . See Crackenthorp's Vigilius dormitans . c. 6. Thus Domnus Patriarch of Antioch was punisht by the Council of Chalcedon , Theodorus Bishop of Mopsuestia , &c. by the 5th General Council , Honorius by the 6th , and the 2d Nicene ; thus the Synod of Sardica condemn'd the revolters to Arianisme , and the African Synod every Bishop who made a Heretick or Pagan his Executor , and the Synod at Rome under Pope Martin the first , execrated the memory of Sergius and Pyrrhus the Patriarchs of Constantinople , and Dioscorus being chosen Pope Simonically , was many years after his death for that contract excommunicate . And according to the prescriptions of the Councils did particular Fathers act , a a Ep. 50. ad Bonifac. Comit. S. Austin declaring his resolutions to curse Cecilianus formerly the Arch-bishop of Carthage , could he but be sure , that the accusations laid to his charge by the Donatists were true . b b Id. l. 3. contr. Crescon . c. 35. And professing also his intentions to do so to whatever persons had in the time of Persecution deliver'd their Bibles to be burnt , though dying in the Church-communion .

XVI . Nor were the Fathers of the Church without a president and encouragement in the Imperial Laws ; c c Cod. l. 2. Tit. 5. de haeret . & Manich. leg . 4. The Emperor Theodosius decreeing , That after death an action might be lawfully commenc'd against a Manichee , or a Donatist , to render the memory of the Heretick infamous ; for if traytors , though in their graves , are yet branded in their posterity , who are depriv'd of estate and honor , though their Father dy'd unimpeach'd , how much more reasonable is it , that the same course should be held in matters of Religion ? says that august and glorious Prince . And there is something of this nature retain'd in the Greek Church unto this day , who give absolution to the dead , that have been buried in the state of excommunication , and this supposes they may be anathematiz'd too , that you may bind as well as loose the dead , for they are d d Malanus Peloponnes . in Histor. Patriarch . C. P. apud Crusii Turco-Graec . l. 2. Sect. 32. & passim . perswaded , that the body of a man , who dies out of the Ecclesiastical communion , cannot turn to ashes , as long as it lies under the Churches curse , but continues hard and swoln , and of a dismal black and affrighting colour : but if many years after the Bishop , or any by his authority go to the grave , open it , and solemnly pronounce the prayer of absolution , in a small space the body returns to its Primitive dust : And the action it self , abating the circumstances , hath its warrant in the Council of Chalcedon , which absolv'd and Canoniz'd a Martyr Flavianus , Patriarch of Constantinople , who had been Excommunicate , and murdered by the Faction of Dioscorus in the Pseudo-Ephesine Synod : Such was the Power and Practice of the Primitive Church , and such doubtless is the Jurisdiction of the present ; but as I could wish it had been antiently superseded in the case of Origen , so I would have the weapon drawn , and us'd very sparingly at all times ; for if from broken sentences , and the ill interpretation of an honest and well-meant , but mistaken and ill-worded discourse , a man must after his dissolution , when he cannot answer for himself , be censur'd and damn'd , few or none of the most Eminent and stout Defenders of the Church shall be out of the reach of this lash .

XVII . Nevertheless , the greatest lovers of the name of Origen cannot but acknowledge , that he had his defects ; his great converse with the discourses of the Philosophers leaving a certain tincture in his mind , which became visible in his writings , there being a near relation between the Opinions of the Academy , and the School of Christ , a a Baren . Tom. 2. an. 234. p. 4●3 . Platonism being the ready way to the belief of the Name of Jesus ; and I could wish we had that Copy of his works which was once b b Apud eund. an. 256. p. 553. Cassiodores , in which that wise man had mark'd all the dangerous passages , that the Reader might with caution proceed , it being a prudent course to allay the extravagancy of that esteem and love which some men had for his name , ingaging them to chuse c c Vinc-Lirinens . common . c. 23. rather to err with Origen , than imbrace the truth with others ; the most material of his Errours d d L. 2. Apolog. adv. Ruffin . p. 220. Ed. Erasm . S. Hierome hath summ'd up in these words , That the Son of God is a Creature , the Holy Ghost a Servant , that there are innumerable Worlds that succeed one another , that the Souls of men were first Angels , and the Soul of Christ had a being before his Incarnation ; that in the Resurrection we shall not arise with the same Bodies ; that at that day Angels and Daemons , and the Souls of men , as well Jews and Heathens , as Christians , shall be in the same state ; that a new World shall be made , and we shall have other bodies , which shall be acted by new Souls dropt from above .

XVIII . A few instances of his failings hath Mr. H. p. 241. out of Osiander given us ; among which that , that the Son of God was a Creature , cannot be reconciled to the passage out of his Book 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , where he acknowledges Jesus to be God , and begotten before the Foundations of the Earth were laid : nor can I believe , that e e Vid. Socrat . Hist. l. 6. c. 12. & l. 2. c. 17. & l. 4. c. 21. S. Athanasius , S. Basil , and S. Gregory Nazianzen , would have quoted his Authority against the Arians , and given him the character of a most admirable and laborious man , had his Sentiments in that point concenter'd with the Hereticks ; no more can I believe that he held that Christ had not his Body from his Mother , but brought it with him from Heaven , as f f De Dogm . Eccles. c. 2. Gennadius impeaches him ; his Doctrine of the Salvability of the Devil he had from his Master Cleinens , and there it hath been consider'd ; the necessity of single Marriages was Apologiz'd for in Tertullian ; the Doctrine of Providence , mention'd p. 242. is disallowed by himself in his g g C. 1. p. 12. &c. 19. & passim . & homil. 3. in Gen. Philocalia ; the Opinion of Free-will was adjusted in the Life of S. Justin ; Justification by Works will bear a safe and Catholick Explanation in S. James's sense ; his Pythagorean transmigration of Souls , which S. Hierome so severely censures , and after him h h God . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 159. Photius , he positively , and in express words more than once denies , i i L. 3. contr. Cels . & Hom. 3. in Mat. vide Apolog. Pamph. pro Orig. Tom. 4. Hier. p. 247. calling it an ignorant Assertion , and not consonant to the Ecclesiastical Dogmata . This acute Father is also charg'd by a a Haeres. 64. Epiphanius with the denial of the Resurrection of the Body , and affirming , that what is here subject to alteration , is uncapable of continuing in one stay for ever : but this is contradicted also by his Proem to his Books 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , where he avers , that there shall be a day of Resurrection , when this Body , which is sown in corruption , shall arise in incorruption ; and what is sown in ignominy , shall arise in glory : And probably that very great man discours'd somewhat according to the Platonick way of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the getting out of the Dungeon in which the Soul is fetter'd , and exerting it into its Native liberty ; and this gave occasion to the misconstruction .

XIX . For the most Eminent Disciples of the Academy were pleas'd to talk accordingly , and on this notion to build a Superstructure that oppos'd the Resurrection ; for Plotinus says , b b Ennead. 3. lib. 6. c. 6. p. 310. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. That as long as the Soul is in the Body , so long it is asleep ; but that the true awakening , is an awakening from the body , not a Resurrection with the body ; for the Resurrection with the body is but a change from one sleep to another , as men go from one Bed to another ; but the true awakening is from all body , which is contrary to the nature of the Soul : And c c De Civit. Dei , lib. 10. c. 29. S. Austin says , that Porphyry oppos'd and derided Christianity for no one Dogma so much , as that of the Incarnation of the Son of God ; for that was a debasing of God to stoop him to a body , whereas the great design of Reason and Philosophy , is to elevate and advance the Soul from the body to God ; and this was the greatest stumbling-block of all the Platonists , says the same Father : With whose writings Origen having been so conversant , and delighting to dress his Notions in their Garb and manner of expression , might easily fall into this misinterpretation of his Orthodox meaning ; and yet at last the Opinion so held is no other than that of the Apostle , that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God , but that this corruptible must put on incorruption , &c.

XX. And for the rest of his Errours , if we remember the adulterating of his writings , the mistakes of his Amanuenses , that some things are spoken Homilitically , others in the heat of disputation against Hereticks : I suppose we shall find just cause not to be too rash in our Censures ; but this task hath been so perform'd by the learned Huet in his Origeniana , that he hath superseded all other endeavours : d d See also Dr. Cave's life of Orig . p. 235. &c. although I cannot but wonder , that neither among his Enemies or Friends , any notice hath been taken of that one unorthodox Assertion of his , that the a a Philocal . c. 12. p. 102 & Hom. 20. in Jo. very words and letters of Charms are efficacious , especially if drest in the Language of the Holy Ghost , in the terms of Scripture ( unless it be meant in that passage in b b Cod. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 159. Photius , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) an Assertion that destroys the sober Principles of Philosophy , and opposes the determinations of Divines .

XXI . Thus checquer'd were the days of this most acute and judicious Father , this devourer of Libraries , and indefatigable Student , to whom the character belongs more justly , which was given to Longinus , that he was a living Library , and a walking Study ; or rather that description of Socrates , that he was a lively Picture of Virtue ; for he was , says our profound c c De coena domini . p. 75. Ridley , most Eminent for his learning and holiness , and of that age the great Doctor of Christianity . Nor is any one more commended by the Christian Writers , who stiled him , Hier. praef. de nomin. Hebr. Tom. 1. p. 71. Ecclesiarum Magistrum . Theodor. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . l. 1. in Menand . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Greg. Nyssen . vit. Greg. Thaumat . Tom. 2. p. 974. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . quòd contra istius aevi haereses pend universas scripsit , consul . Theodoret. in Menandro , Basilide , Isidoro , &c. Vide & Hier. ad Pammach. & Ocean . de error . Origatom . 2. p. 19⅘ . the Tutor of the Church , the Great Master of all sort of Learning , the voluminous and acute Writer , and Teacher of the true Christian Philosophy , a man Eminent and Venerable from his Infancy , and the true Son of a Martyr , and the Confuter of all Heresies ; for he wrote against Menander , Basilides , and his Son Isidorus , against Valentinus and Hermogenes , Potitus , Blastus , Synerus , Prepon , and Pithon , against the Nazaraei , Elcesaitae , Nicolaitans , and Marcionites ; and hardly an Enemy of the Church , and her Orthodox Sentiments , but was scourg'd and confuted by his Tongue and Pen.

XXII . Nor were the Sons of the Church his only Encomiasts , the Adversaries of our Faith having been just to his Merit , d d R. Gedaliah in Schalschel . haccabbala p. 93. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . apud Hotting . Smegon . Orient . p. 268. the Jews themselves giving him a good Character , and e e Apud Eus. l. 6. c. 13. Porphyry , even where he rails at it , being forc'd to sacrifice on the Altar of Truth , and to commend his learning and industry : And though the Grandees of the Alexandrian Church were his Enemies , yet the multitude ador'd his memory ; for when f f Phot. Cod. pin●ubi suppletur locus ab Haesckel . in not . p. 940. Pierius , on the account of his indefatigable industry , acute Disputations , and florid Sermons was much cryed up by them , they could not find out a more Honourable Title to bestow on him , than that of the Ju●ior Origen .

XXIII . Thus is he brought to his last Essay , his preparations for Heaven and Eter●●ity , a place he could not but long for , were there nothing there but a freedome from his Earthly troubles ; and in him we may observe some things peculiar . 1. His Preaching frequently without Orders , a thing not unknown in that Age ( and I could wish never had been practis'd in ours ) but unless an extraordinary occasion justifie it , little allowable , it being a just punishment of Heaven on him for this Usurpation , to suffer him to fall into so many gross mistakes , says a a Loc. com . part . 3. Sect. de Eccles. p. 130. Chemnitius . 2. That when he was ordain'd , the Ceremony was perform'd , not by his own Diocesan , which was usual , nor by a Neighbour Bishop with Letters dimissory , which was sometimes practised , but by two Bishops , the one of Jerusalem , the other of Caesarea ; it being the first example that we meet with in Church-History , of a Presbyter that had Imposition of hands to that sacred imployment from more than one Prelate . 3. That his great Enemy S. Hierome , who so roundly taxes Ruffinus for defending him , notwithstanding the heat of his declaiming , does b b Praefat. quaest. in Genes . Tom. 3. p. 204. soberly protest , that he could be well content to undergo the envy that befel him , could he be but Master of his skill in the Scriptures ; and that he would scorn those Mormo's , and little shadows [ that surrounded him ] whose fashion it was only to affright Children , and make a great noise in a Corner .

XXIV . Envy therefore it was in the Opinion of his profest Adversary , that occasioned his Condemnation , and made him fall under the Censures of c c Euseb. l. 6. c. 7. Pamphil . Apolog. apud Phot. Cod. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 260. two Synods at Alexandria , convened by the procurement of Demetrius , whose spleen was grated to see a Presbyter make greater and more honourable Conquests than the Patriarch of the Province ; like David's ten thousands to Saul's thousands : And the same Evil Spirit vext and haunted him at d d Ruffin . invect. 2. in Hieron . Tom. 4. p. 288. Rome , because themselves were shadows , while he was admired , and his glory eclips'd their minor fames ; as when the Sun shines , it is night with the Stars . 4. That so great a lover and Zealot of Martyrdome , should in an Age of Persecutions die in peace ; for I cannot believe a a Apud Phot. cod . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 159. Pamphilus , though he says there were many others of his Opinion , that he suffered an honourable Martyrdome at Caesarea , in the Persecution under Decius , for then he could not have lived to that age which S. Hierome allows him , nor been Author of those Epistles , which , says Photius , he writ after the death of that Emperour , unless we suppose the Letters to have been written after he had left the World , as the b b 2 Chron. 21.12 . Jews say Elijah sent a writing to Joram , King of Judah , nine years after his death , and conveyed it miraculously by the Ministry of an Angel .

XXV . But perhaps by that celebrated Martyrdome he means no more but an honourable confession of the name of Christ in those evil times , which he never seal'd with his blood ; the title in the days of Persecution being usually given to those , who having profess'd the Christian Faith before the Gentiles with the hazard of their lives , suffered , but out-lived the tortures inflicted on them ; so c c Ad Philadelph . p. 45. Edit. Vossii . S. Ignatius calls Philo his Deacon 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , i. not a man of known probity , but as d d Not. in loc. p 284. Vossius renders it , one that had been a Martyr in designation ; and e e Adv. Valent . cap. 1. Tertullian says , Valentinus expected a Bishoprick , but it was conferr'd on one who had a better right to it , because a Martyr in preparation and resolves , though not actually ; and S. Athanasius's many banishments and sufferings for Orthodoxy , got him that title too ; Athanasius the Martyr , f f Catal. p. 314. Edit. Sealig . Nicephorus stiles him ; ( Martyres designati , in g g De Martyr . init . Tertullian , h h Ep. 2. ad Victric . p. 284. Martyres vivi , & i i Natal . 3. S. Faelicis . p. 573. sine sanguine Martyr , in Paulinus , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Naz. Orat. 20. p. 319 ) and S. Cyprian directs many of his Epistles to the Martyrs and Confessors , Nemesianus &c. The Martyrs of God the Father Almighty , for the three children , says he , k k Cypr. Ep. 58. p. 79. were nevertheless Martyrs , though they escap'd the flames of the Babylonish furnace ; the deferring of the Confessors Martyrdome does no way lessen the merit of his generosity and bravery , but makes manifest the Magnalia of the Divine protection . For there are two sorts of Martyrs , says l l Hemil. 36. in Evang. S. Gregory the great , one in the intention only , the other in the intention and action both . So our Saviour tells the sons of Zebedee , that they should be baptized with his baptism , and drink of his cup , by which is meant Martyrdome , whereas S. John did not actually suffer , but yet was a Martyr in will and resolution , though his body escap'd .

XXVI . And in truth the title was promiscuously bestowed on those that dyed in durance , that were banish'd or imprison'd for the sake of Jesus , or that had but their estates confiscated ; it was given to those charitable Christians , who by visiting the sick of the Plague at Alexandria got the infection , and lost their lives in that pestilential disease ; nay any man who was unjustly condemn'd and executed got that title , if we may believe the Heathen Historian a a L. 27. vide Baron . not . in Martyrol . p. 266. Ammianus Marcellinus ; for I cannot allow of b b Tom. 2. an. 253. p. 458. Baronius his nice distinction , that none of those who escap'd death were called Martyrs , but who had undergone the Rack and other torments in prison , while the Confessors were only those who had been confined , but no otherwise punish'd . A Confessor therefore and a Martyr were in those days reciprocal terms in the account of all men , but the Confessors themselves who were so modest as to disown the name . The c c Apud Euseb. lib. 5. cap. 2. Churches of Lyons and Vien writing to the Churches of Asia and Phrygia , that their sufferers , who had been thrown to the wild beasts , and were afterward rescued , would not stile themselves , nor suffer others to call them Martyrs ; but if any one either personally or by Letter had given them that appellation , would severely reprehend him , confessing that Christ who is the first-born from the dead , and the giver of eternal life , was the only d d 1 Tim. 6.13 . faithful and true Martyr . Only Lucian , and the rest of the pragmatical Confessors so called themselves in their Rescript to e e Inter 〈◊〉 Cypr. 17. p. 26. S. Cyprian , Optamus te cum sanctis martyribus pacem habere .

XXVII . In this sense was Origen a Martyr , not unto death , but of the first Classe of Confessors ; his time being divided between his prodigious industry in his Studies , his beloved poverty , and his sufferings at the hands of Demetrius and his party , besides his daily expectation of a fatal sentence from the inraged Gentiles , made his whole life a continued martyrdome , which God put a period to an . Chr. 256. and of his age the 69th , which cannot possibly comport with the reign of Gallus , and Volusianus , as Photius , Baronius , and Mr. H. assert , but must be referred to the first of Valerian , when reckoning him to be 17 years old at the death of his Father , an . 10. Severi , his 69 years are compleated . f f Raleigh's Hist. of the world , lib. 2. cap. 7. sect. 3. He lies buryed at Tyre , where he dyed , in the Cathedral Church , in a glorious Sepulchre curiously adorn'd with Marble pillars , cover'd with gold and precious stones , † † 3. p. 339. by whom the famous Emperor Frederick Barbarossa , being drowned near Iconium , lies interred .

The Panegyrick of S. Gregory Thaumaturgus , spoken to Origen at Caesarea Palaestinae , when he was returning home . Inter opera Greg. Thaumaturgi , p. 48. & Edit. Gerh. Vossii , Paris . 1622.

‛ SIlence is a comely quality in all men generally , but especially in me at this time , who whether I will or no , am compell'd to hold my peace , being conscious to my self of my rudeness , and unacquaintedness with the elegancies of Speech , which requires great choice of pertinent expressions both in composition and pronunciation , and perchance nature never design'd me for so smooth and pleasing an undertaking , * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Gr. fit only for those that are Native Greciuns ; nor is it less than eight years since I either spake or writ any Oration , or heard any other either declaiming privately , or in publick making Panegyricks , except only these admirable men , that have fallen in love with sacred Philosophy , who are less sollicitous about the Cadencies of word , and Decencies of Elocution , primarily studying to search out , and then to express things as they are ; not that they disdain eloquence , for they are very willing to cloath their accurate and generous notions in beautiful and veracious Language , but that it is not so easie at the same time to express their Divine and holy sentiments in proper terms , and the finer dress of the Orators , and to comprehend within the narrow mind of one man two such opposite qualifications , being the distinct employments of several persons ; for silence and thoughtfulness is a great promoter of the understanding and invention ; but few men speak well , except those that constantly use it ; and beside all this , my other studies have defaced any such impressions , that the Greek Tongue had made in my mind , on which the study of the Roman Laws , by which the World is governed , hath imposed , which neither were digested , nor can be understood without much industry , which in themselves are full of wisdom and piety , and a various and admirable composure , and in a word , dress'd in a most rich and pure stile , but being translated into Latine , though the Language be venerable and lofty , and suited to the grandeur of that Majestick Empire , they prove ( if I may speak my thoughts ) troublesom and difficult to me ; for whereas our words are nothing else but representations of the passions of our souls , we confess it is as easie for skill'd Orators , as for excellent Limners well furnish'd in point of art and diversity of colours , to draw the pretty blushes and various shapes , and intermixt beauties of flowers in a Tablet : but for my self who am poor , and unfurnish'd of those several boxes of paint , as having either never enjoyed or rejected them , it sufficeth me to delineate my naked thoughts in those words that first come to hand , in usual and vulgar expressions , as he that draws with a coal ; expressing my sentiments if not in gaudy and flourishing terms , yet doing my best as in such a rude Essay , voluntarily rejecting whatever pompous and finer ways of speaking do offer themselves unto me . But there is a third reason yet , that more enclines me to silence , and that is the excellency of my subject , of which I was always earnest and willing to treat ; but now am afraid and full of hesitation ; for I have designed to accost you with a discourse concerning a great Person , who as to outward view is a man , but to those that can see the greatness of his soul , and his sublime accomplishments , he appears more than humane , endued with Divine Excellencies .

‛ I will not detain your expectations with a rehearsal of his Parentage and Education , of his strong habit of body , and comeliness , for these are the praises of Children , which are scatter'd at randome , with and without desert ; for to speak cautiously of things that are transitory and vain , and by many ways , and very soon , and easily are destroyed , as if they were Venerable , and worth our pursuit , seems to me a dull and empty undertaking ; it was never my design to speak of such trifling and unsatisfactory Toys , though if I should , I need not fear or blush , as if I should degrade my Subject : but whereas I have adventured to treat of greater things , and to mention that in him which is most transcendent , and nearest akin to the Divinity , which though shut up in a mortal and visible body , earnestly strives to be like God , and to praise my Saviour for blessing me with the acquaintance of this Sage man , beyond every other persons expectations , and my own especially , who ne're imagin'd , nor could ever have hop't such happiness , it is no wonder , if being conscious to my self of my weak and mean parts , that I am at a loss , and full of tremblings , and had rather hold my peace ; this course did seem most safe to me , lest under the pretence of gratitude , I by a hasty easiness , talking light and common things of so Venerable and sacred a Subject , might not only fall short of truth , but injure its interest in the minds of them that had formerly entertain'd it ; since an impotent and flat Oration abuses him whom it designs to praise . But thy Excellencies , O thou amiable man , can neither be diminish'd nor defam'd , or rather thy Divine Endowments , which being in themselves unalterable , cannot be debas'd by the meanness and indigence of my discourse . Nor know I how to decline the imputation of confidence and rashness , who madly enterprise matters of the highest nature , and exceeding ordinary capacities with so small a stock of Wit and preparation ; for if we had , through the heat of Youth , adventured on such a design in another place , and before other persons , could we have escap't the brand of boldness , and self-conceit ? but the undertaking is as rash as impudent , to dare to do so in thy presence , and madly to prophane thine ears with an undigested Harangue , and a dirty heap of impertinent terms , where only holy reasonings and divine Essays find entrance , not wrapt up in shadows and Aenigma's , and the coverture of obscure words , but with the greatest plainness and perspicuity imaginable : It is time now therefore to grow wise , and by ending my Oration here , to set a period to my offence , which I earnestly desire ; but having once trespast on the borders of modesty , suffer me , if the Crime may be forgiven , to declare the causes of this my Adventure : Ingratitude appears to me the blackest and most unsufferable of Vices , and that man that does not strive to requite Obligations , if no other way , at least by a grateful remembrance , and verbal thanks , is either a mad man , or insensible , and a block ; and he that is sensible of , and underderstands a benefit , unless in some measure he testifie his acknowledgments , is a dull , unthankful , and imp●ous person , and guilty of a piece of baseness , which is unpardonable in all sorts of men , in the greatest and most magnificent , as well as in the mean and despicable ; for the more noble and exalted any one is in his enjoyments and faculties , so much the stronger tye is laid on him to render a more illustrious recompence to his Benefactors ; nor may the poor and afflicted indulge to their sloth and carelesness , as if they had nothing fit to sacrifice to their duty , but rather tender a small offering , than none , if not adequate to their Patrons worth , yet proportioned to their own narrow fortunes ; nor are such Oblations , if accompanied with a chearful and willing mind , less acceptable than more numerous and splendid Presents . So the poor Woman in the Gospel that offered her two Mites , in God's computation , gave more than all the rich Contributers to the Corban ; for the holy Scriptures measure not the Oblation by the quantity of the gift , but by the intention of the Devoto : It is not therefore necessary that I should be afraid , lest my gratitude fall short of my Obligations , but rather I should endeavour to repay , if not what I ought , yet what I can , and by this means avoid the infamous title of the unthankful . It is impious to be silent , when our powers cannot reach the Eminency of an equivalent retaliation , but an argument of candour and ingenuity , to aim at a return we cannot attain to , and I will justly glory when I have done my utmost : This therefore shall be my gratulatory Oration , and a Specimen of my Resentments , I dare not say a testimony of my thanks to God ; for as it 's his bounty alone that begins every good thing in us , so it 's our duty to render him the first-fruits of our praises , of our Hymns and Adorations . But should I devote my self wholly to my Maker , not as I have made my self a wicked and impure Creature , but as he made me pure and innocent ; neither could I tender him any thing worthy so great a Governour , and prime Cause , whom neither particular persons singly , nor the whole Series of mankind conjoyned , if they entirely imploy'd themselves in the service , and amast all that was pure and acceptable , could ever celebrate according to his merits ; for even that power that enables a man to think and speak well of his Law-giver , is also a free Emanation of his Creators Munificence , and he does not requite , but restore him his own .

‛ But these Gratulations and Eucharistical Hymns to our great Prince and Governour , must we leave to him that helps our infirmities , and is best fitted for so sublime a task , to the great Saviour and Protector of Souls , the first-born Word , the Creator and Preserver of all things , who can offer up constant and uncessant thanks to the Father for himself , and all mankind , because he is the Truth , and the Wisdome , and the Power of his Father ; for he being in the Father , and incomprehensibly united to him , it cannot be suspected , that either through forgetfulness , or imprudence , or weakness , as if he were estranged from him , he should either be unable or unwilling to magnifie his Majesty , which is a task fit only for his Divinity , whom the great Parent of the World hath made one with himself , and honoured with an equality of Power , because he is the first and only begotten Son of God , while we also in an inferiour Sphere may testifie our gratitude , if we offer our utmost thanks through him , by whom all the mercies of God convey themselves unto us ; accounting this a signal argument of our Piety , to consecrate our memories to our God through him , who is the most perfect of Creatures , and the Incarnate Word of that prime Mind , and best meriting his Fathers Providence and Love , and best accomplisht to display his worth ; to that most sacred and divine Man , that exceeds all other Mortals , is this our Oration designed as a Panegyrick ; and should I acknowledge my obligations to any thing else that is invisible , and yet is concerned in the welfare of mankind , my Tutelary Angel deserves my return , who was deputed by God to preserve and superintend me from my Childhood , which fed me from my Youth , and protected me from all evil , as that good man words it , Gen. 48.16 . understanding his own Guardian . And perhaps this extraordinary person had suitably in honour of his enhanced Piety , some one of the highest Order of Angels deputed to preside over him , and it may be the great Angel of the Covenant , the common Saviour of mankind , although of this I am not perfectly assured : but whoever this his Guardian was , the Patriarch both knew and celebrated him : And in imitation of him , I my self am inclin'd to thank , not only the great Governour of mankind , but my particular Guide from my Infancy , who , as formerly in all other things he hath appeared tender of my welfare , in feeding and tutoring me ( for it was he only that could discern what was conducive to my spiritual interests , which were not discernable by me , or any of my Kindred who were naturally blind , and could neither see nor understand what belong'd to our peace ) so now especially doth cherish and instruct me ; and besides all his other favours , hath blest me with the acquaintance of this wise and good man ( a happiness that out-bids all other fruitions ) to whom I had no relation either by Birth or Blood , by Friendship , Neighbourhood , or Country , which are the usual Originals of Amity amongst most men ; but my good Genius , by a divine and wise Providence , bringing me hither , contrived and perfected ( and that questionless by designation from the first hour of my birth ) this blessed Union between us that were Strangers , and unknown each to other , and separated at a great distance , as far as many intervening Nations , high Mountains , and deep Rivers could divide us . It would be too long accurately to describe all the circumstances and particulars that gave birth to this familiarity ; I shall therefore mention only some few of the most material passages .

I. My first education from my Birth was under the tuition of my Gentile Parents , freedom from which erroneous sentiments I suppose no man could expect , nor my self hope , being as yet a child void of reason , and under the instruction of a superstitious Father ; But not long after , my Father's death leaving me an Orphan , was perchance the first favourable circumstance that conduced to my acquaintance with the Truth ; for then first I began to apply my mind to true and saving reason , I know not whether by the bent of my will , or any impulsive force ; for what strength of judgment could there be in a child of 14 years old ? But then I began to attain the use of sacred reason , as most men at that age use to do : Which passage , though I might heretofore , yet now I cannot look on as a mean effect of the holy and admirable providence of God towards me , that when I survey the course of my affairs according to the series of my years , all my actions that preceded this my puberty , though very erroneous , are to be attributed to my infancy and want of understanding ; and that the sacred dictates did not offer themselves in vain to my soul before it was endowed with reason , but that as soon as it attained to the use of that faculty , though not in its purity , I began to be in love not only with humane , but Divine knowledge ; while the sacred learning by its own powers to me ineffable did assist the secular ; which while I remember , my soul is transported both with joy and fear ; being glad that I have made so good a progress , but dreading that after having attained so far , I may fail of my end . Thus I know not how have my words multiplyed beyond my design , while I am willing to give you an account of my first acquaintance with this admirable person , hastening to a relation of what succeeded , not as if I intended to praise or requite him , that so bless'd me , but that I may afford you a plain and sincere History of my life and actions . My mother , on whom was devolved the whole care of my education , thought it fit , having past through those other studies , that become children well born , and brought up , to place me with a teacher of Rhetorick , that I might be an Orator , whose School we frequented , and were by competent judges thought likely to prove famous for eloquence , but I had no mind to this sort of employ , which wanted its charms to endear it unto me , but my Divine guide that was faithful in the tuition of his pupil , and incessantly watchful over me for good , when neither my Relations thought of it , nor my self desired it , suggested to one of my Instructors , who was appointed to teach me the Latine Tongue , a design to perswade me to the study of the Roman Laws , in which himself was no inconsiderable Master ; he undertook the task diligently , and I obey'd him rather to please him than my self in a study which I fancied not . When he admitted me his Scholar , he imparted his notions to me with accuracy , and one thing which he told me I find very true , that the study of those Laws would be of great advantage to me , whether I resolv'd to be a Rhetorician and plead at the Bar , or would betake my self to any other calling . Thus his Lectures tended to make me passionate of Secular Learning ; but to me he seemed to be acted by a Diviner afflatus than himself was sensible of . After I had been thus a while a pupil to the Laws , there fell out the occasion of my coming into this Country , that I might make my progress in the City of Berytus , which not being far distant hence , * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . is a free City , and a famous Academy for the study of the Roman-Laws ; other business had not long before brought this holy man from Alexandria in Egypt , where he formerly resided , into this City , as if it had fallen out on purpose to give me the happy occasion of meeting him ; what the reasons of his journey were I know not , and willingly will pretermit ; but there was nothing so conducive to my coming hither , as that by the study of the Laws , I might be fitted to travel to Rome ; and how came this to pass ? The President of Palestine having taken my Brother-in-law with him to this place to assist and ease him of his care in Governing the Province , for he was a Lawyer , engaged him in the journey without the company of his Wife , of whom he was not willing long to live depriv'd , and therefore sent for her , and us to accompany her , so that when I was meditating on travelling any other where rather than here , lo a Soldier with an Injunction , that my Sister must go to her Husband , and that we should take the same journey , out of complaisance to our Brother-in-law , especially to our Sister , that she might the more decently , and with the greater chearfulness undertake the journey , our kinred perswading us , that it would be no mean instrument to the perfecting of our Studies , if we resided at Berytus ; all things conspired to encline us , the gratifying our Sister , and the convenience of our own instruction , besides the easiness of conveyance , the Soldier having brought more Carriages than were necessary for my Sister alone . These were the known incentives , but the hidden motives were most prevalent , the conversation of this venerable Philosopher , the true knowledg of the word of God by his Ministry , and the profit of our Souls , this brought us blind and ignorant , to be partakers of Salvation ; So that it was not the Soldier , but the holy Guide and good Guardian , that accompanyed , led , and defended us through our whole lives , as through a long Pilgrimage ; and slightly passing by other places , and Berytus it self , with which we seemed most passionately in love , hither brought , and here setled us , using all methods to endear us to this great instrument of our felicity , and perchance that good Angel that had took the custody of me hitherto here desisted , not worn out with its care and tutorage , ( for those sacred Ministers are unwearied ) but because he had delivered me over to the proxy inspection of a man , who would omit no Specimen of industry and providence for my advantage ; for the first time of my acquaintance with him , ( which I may call the first and most happy day of my life , when the true light began to beam in upon me ) his great business was to fix me here , who were full of thoughts of returning to Berytus , or into my Native Country , as wild beasts , or birds , or fishes , entangled in a net , are restless to escape ; to this end he moved every stone , and set on work every engine , and exerted the strength of his Eloquence , celebrating Philosophy and its Proselytes with many and pertinent praises ; that those only live like rational creatures , that order their Conversations aright , and first study to know themselves ; That nothing is truly good , but what we ought to follow ; and nothing properly evil , but must be shunned ; upbraiding the want of Learning , and the whole herd of ignorants ; which like bruit beasts know not so much as what themselves are , having their understandings eclips'd ; neither being able to discern between good and evil , nor desirous to be instructed , who sordidly pursue and fall in love with wealth , or honour , or bodily health , as the chiefest good , accounting these things their only darlings ; and studying nothing but the little arts by which these are acquired , doting on the Sword or the Gown , the clamors of the Army or the noise of the Bench , rejecting the care of their minds and reasons their noblest part ; and this makes men dull , and enslaves them to sloth and vicious habits . It is impossible to express , how many such perswasives he made use of , to exhort me to the study of Philosophy , with much frequency and earnestness , his words by a strange violence piercing my soul , for he was Master of an excellent faculty of perswading , that with much sweetness he necessitated me to believe him ; At first I wavered , and my resolutions were loose , I desired to be a Philosopher , but I had not yet conquered all difficulties ; but I knew not how t● leave him , for every day I found my self chain'd faster by his most rational Lectures ; asserting , that it was impossible to be pious towards the great Governour of the World without Philosophy , with which blessing God had of all the Creatures only adorned man , that both the wise and unlearned might be capable of its precepts , and every man who had not altogether lost his reason in a deluge of madness and folly ; he therefore affirm'd , that it was an impossible thing to be a lover of piety for any man but a Philosopher ; and by these and many other such advices was I insensibly charm'd , tamed by his art , and setled under his tutorage , as firmly as if the hand of heaven had fastened me there . Nor did I only admire , but infinitely love my sage instructor , not with a light and desultory , but with a strong and invincible affection , created in me by his wisdom and debonair carriage , by the reason and allurements of his discourses ; who sought not to trepan but to enrich my soul with the treasures of Philosophy after the most dexterous , kind , and insinuating method that can be imagined ; not only instilling into me those notices which other men are capable of , but admitting me to a participation of those peculiar blessings wherewith God had accomplish'd him above all other men , even his heavenly instructions , which were Lectures of piety , that found many Auditors , but none whom they did not subdue and conquer to the love of holiness : for who can resist the eternal King ? of whom when men are passionate , what is obscure and unintelligible to all others , becomes to them perspicuous , and easie to be described . Thus my love inkindled and grew strong , both towards that most amiable reason , that by its transcendant beauties charm'd the world , and also towards this generous man its friend and interpreter , ( as if some sparkles had taken hold of my soul ) and it so imperiously sway'd me , that I easily perswaded my self to scorn not only all other arts and methods of discipline , which might be more profitable for me , and the excellent Laws of which I was a Student , but even my Country and Relations , both those with whom I now dwelt , and those also whom I left behind me ; I courted and was passionate of nothing but Philosophy , and this divine man that profest it ; 1 Sam. 18.1 . and the soul of Jonathan was bound up with the soul of David , for this I afterward read in holy Writ , but I a long time before felt the same influences as plainly as they were written , and as truly as if foretold by an Oracle ; for Jonathan was not simply joyn'd to David , but their nobler parts their souls were united , which can no way be forced to a disunion by the separation of those things that appear and are seen of men : for the soul is a free agent and cannot be compelled , though you confine it to a prison ; for there the primary reason hath its residence where the mind is ; and if it seem to thee to be under restraint , that is the product of thy fancy , nor can it be prohibited to adjust it self a lodging where it pleases ; for there only it may be believed to be , where its powers discover themselves by their productions : So that what I have suffered is most plainly illustrated by these few words , the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David , which can by no violence be disunited against their intentions , nor with their own consent , without difficulty ; for the power to loose those bonds of this holy love was not conferred on the less eminent , and good of these persons , whose mind was various and mutable , as neither could he alone begin the friendship , but in the firm and unshaken good man , by whom alone this bond of amity could be truly knit ; so that holy Writ tells us not that the soul of David was knit to the soul of Jonathan , but on the contrary , that the soul of the worse person swayed by this passion , was united to the soul of David ; for that which is better being self-sufficient , is not inclinable to a conjunction with what is worse ; but that which is worse wanting the assistance of that which is better , ought to build its dependances thereon , that the more excellent part preserving its station , might suffer no detriment by its communion with the inferior part , and that what was in it self disorderly , by this conjunction might be overcome . So that to make such a conquest , was the employment of the brave soul , while the duty of the meaner person was to submit to those pleasing chains , so as not to be able to escape them . Such Triumphs hath this David gotten over me , and captivated me beyond the possibility of flying ; and could I wander hence , yet the knot is indissoluble , which according to the sacred Scripture hath so bound up our souls . His first undertaking was to besiege me , till he compell'd me to consent to my stay in this place , and then apply'd himself to cultivate me , as a skilful husbandman does a waste piece of ground untilled and unfruitful , stony and full of gravel , or rather as he manages a field not altogether barren and unfit for fertile productions , but of a fat mould , only neglected and undress'd , and over-run with bryers and thorns ; or as an engraffer , meeting with a wild but firm stock , that produces four and harsh fruit , inoculates thereon better and more serviceable fruit , so as we often see the mixt tree made fruitful , whereas before it was barren , and on a wild stock bearing excellent Olives , or the same tree , which before was wild made serviceable by the industrious Gardiner , or a tree otherwise naturally fertil , yet disabled from bearing by too many suckers , by pruning made fit for fructification ; so he not only looking superficially on me , but searching me intimately , by questioning with me , and weighing my answers , did artificially harrow , plough , and water me , weeding out all the thorns and bryers , and all wild herbs and plants by reproofs and prohibitions , which my rude unsubdued and luxuriant mind brought forth ; now rallying me after the Socratick way , anon repressing me by some other method of discourse , when he found me like a head-strong and ungoverned Horse , taking the Bit in my teeth , and running out of the way , till by his speeches , wherein perswasions and violence were intermixt , he had made me tame and submissive . This was uncouth and troublesome at first , when I was unaccustomed to obey the Laws of Reason ; but when he had thus prepared me to receive the Dictates of Truth , then he opportunely sowed the Seeds , as in a free and well-ordered Soyl , observing fit seasons for every part of this spiritual Husbandry , heightning what was dull in my mind , either by nature or gross diet , till it commenc'd acumen , giving it an edge by his subtil discourses of rational passions , and by this way awakening me out of my sleep , my want of judgment , and my head-strong hastiness either in assenting to the belief of what came first to my view , how false soever , or resisting the truth , he chastised and corrected , by the same , and many other such Essays : For this kind of Philosophy is full of variety , inuring men neither to believe hastily , nor dissent obstinately , but diligently to examine all things , as well what is hidden , as manifest ; for many Notions appearing to us Illustrious and Venerable , under specious words , insinuated themselves a way by my ears into my belief , which I afterward found full of cheat and falshood , and only drest in the Mask of Truth to deceive me . On the contrary , many most veracious Propositions wanting the Fucus of a plausible Discourse to set them off , seemed to me Paradoxes , and incredible , and were unworthily rejected and exploded , which appeared to be of Eternal Verity , when I weighed them more accurately , searching further than the Superficies into the internal nature of things . Thus was I taught to judge , and thus was I instructed to determine rationally of words , not according to the little and unnecessary Art of the Rhetoricians , that say this word is Elegant , that Barbarous , but according to those Rules that are most necessary for Greeks and Barbarians , for wise men and Idiots ; in a word , for all men , since it is the interest of mankind studiously to take care , that whatever discourses they hear , they be not deceived : Nor did he only rectifie this part of my mind , which Logick is designed to inform , but by an insight into Nature and Physical Learning , did he excite and ingage the lower faculties of my Soul , to admire the beautiful and admirable structure of the World , the variety and the wisdome of its contrivance , describing and distinguishing all things which are in the World , and clearly reducing them to their proper Classes , according to the Laws of Universal Nature , and their own peculiar tendencies , with all the Mutations that happen in this great Fabrick . Thus by the clearness and reason of his discourses , he banisht that irrational astonishment that formerly possest me , and introduc't into my mind a rational admiration of the Oeconomy of the World , and the Products of Nature . This is that sublime and Seraphick Learning which this most beloved part of Philosophy doth teach ; and what need had I reckon the sacred Mathematicks , unerring Geometry that all men affect , and Astronomy that makes its path among the Stars , which he taught me , making Geometry the impregnable Basis and Foundation of all other Sciences , but leading me higher by Astronomy , as it were by a Ladder reaching unto Heaven , making me acquainted with that beautiful place , by the assistance of both these Sciences .

‛ But the principal design , and that whereon the whole Tribe of Philosophers spend their time and pains , is , that by the intermixture of all other Sciences , and the general study of Philosophy , they might reap the fruits of their pains in an habit of holy and divine actions , whence issues the only serene , quiet , and happy frame of mind . This was his chief task , that I might be no longer a Slave to my grief , or any other passions that arise from fear of evil , but pacate , regular , and blessed , and truly like God . This he design'd in all his Lectures , full of mildness and learning , and most necessary for the modelling of my life and manners ; and also by his actions did he govern and sway my impetuousness , raising me to the contemplation and knowledge of the rise and origin of those heats and passions in the mind , from which considerations the Soul is inclined to a more regular demeanour , that by viewing its own deformities , as in a Glass , it might be capacitated to discern the causes and roots of all evil , and that irrational Principle whence proceed all our hurries , perturbations , and absurdities ; and at the same time to see the reflections and beautiful lineaments of that brave Reason , that nobler part of the Soul , which as long as it preserves its Empire , the mind lives free from the impositions of passions , and is secur'd from dangers ; and when the Soul hath accurately ruminated on these things , it with ease rejects , and tramples under feet , and destroys in their Infancy , all evil tendencies that arise from the more ignoble faculties , which either too much dilate the Soul by intemperance , or strangle and contract it by despair , that neither pleasures , nor extravagant longings , nor griefs , nor fears , may be able to discompose it ; but it suckles and cherishes all that is good in us , which arises from our better part , till from the weaknesses of Infant piety , it grows up to maturity , strength , and perfection , for so divine Virtues are begotten in our minds : Thus we acquire prudence , which can exactly discern these motions and inclinations , by its judicious acquaintance with the passions themselves , and all other external objects , whether good or evil ; and thus we get Temperance , which in the beginning directs us to make wise choices , and Justice , which distributes according to every ones merit ; and Fortitude , that guards and defends all the other Virtues . He did not therefore feed me only with dry and jejune Lectures , of what was good or evil , what was fit to be done , or left undone , as if that were prudence , for this is the emptiest and most insignificant of Sciences , if the man's words and actions be strangers ; and that learning is vain , that doth not engage men to do their duties in the love of Virtue , and detestation of Vice ; for no men truly know what these Virtues are , but they that practise them : For Temperance is the knowledge of what is to be chosen , and what shunned by us , which other Philosophers , especially the Neotericks , never solidly taught , who speak big , and are very confident : so that I have frequently admired them , as if they had demonstrated that Virtue that unites God and men , and given the World a Specimen , that nothing is so nearly a-kin to Heaven , as a wise man ; when all this hath been only empty and insignificant noyse , while they neither taught true Prudence , by which a man might be engaged to act wisely , nor true Temperance , that a man might imbrace and pursue the good things he had learnt , and as to Justice and Fortitude , they were perfect Strangers .

‛ My great Master did not so teach me Virtue , but his life was a more perswasive Lecture than his discourses ; his actions and his conversation were a more prevalent Charm than his words .

‛ I desire all the Philosophers whom I know , and of whom I have heard , and all other men , that they do not misconstrue me ; for he wrongs me that thinks I speak this as swayed by a passionate and ungrounded love to this transcendant man , or out of hatred of other Philosophers , whom if any other man , I especially will both praise for their pious and rational discourses , and be delighted with the Eulogies which others give them ; but what I now impeach them of is so publickly known , that the name and reputation of Philosophy is thereby impaired ; and I had rather , to speak in short , die an illiterate dunce and idiot , than to become a Proselyte to such unbecoming methods ; for as soon as I was blest with this Master , I thought it , though perhaps amiss , beneath me for the remainder of my days , to consult any other Oracle . Nor let this be censur'd as vain glory and affection to praise my instructor , and decry the other professors of wisdom ; but let them be assured that I cannot be mistook for a flatterer , since my Encomium is infinitely below his deserts : Nor did I ever hunt after words , and the smoothnesses and specious artifice of making commendatory speeches , being so much a friend to truth , when I was a child , and in the School of a Rhetorician , as not to praise that person or thing that did not deserve it ; much less can I now think it necessary when I intend to commend , to lay the foundation of his honour on the ruines of other mens reputations ; nor should I but speak evil and injuriously when I design to celebrate , should I compare the holy and even tenor of his blessed life with the wandrings and extravagancies of others , I am not so mad to blaspheme when I should sacrifice , but without any fucus , or the fetches of Oratory , I will give you a plain History of what befell me . This was the only person that first exhorted me to apply my studies to the Philosophy of the Greeks , perswading me by his manners to love and learn the Laws of a holy and just demeanor , when I had before-hand been proof against all the serious advices of other Philosophers , which I must confess fell out rather unhappily than by my choice , for I never heard many professors , and those few that I did , were only Philosophers in their Words ; but this man taught me to discourse like a Philosopher , when by alluring me into a Philosophick course of life , he had prevented the necessity of his counsels ; not only meditating before-hand what he should speak , but not thinking it fit to recommend to others , what he had not intended himself with a sincere purpose and bent of mind to practise , striving to propose himself as the Exemplar of that wise and upright man , whom his Speeches did describe ; but I will not call him such a pattern , though should I , it would appear a great truth , because I promis'd not to entertain you with the ceremonious train and pomp of elegancies , but with the plain and naked truth ; I call him not therefore an exact exemplar , but one that was infinitely desirous to imitate such a pattern herein chearfully , and with diligence , and industry more than humane , employing himself , studying to mold me into such a shape , and frame , that I might not only be a competent auditor of a Lecture concerning the passions , but might feel the benefit of his speculations , in entertaining all , or at least part of every vertue in my soul . By his private demeanor , he did as it were compell me to be just , and forcibly perswade me to abandon curiosity , and variety of business , and the noise of the forum , to engage me to an acquaintance with my self and my own affairs ; for this is to live justly , and many of the Ancients did affirm this to be the only equity , intimating that a private life is more conductive to the selicity of our selves and others ; for the great employ of this virtue , is to distribute to every one his due according to his merits ; and what is more connatural to the soul , or so becoming it , as to superintend it self ? not to suffer it self to wander , and do it self injury , by being concern'd in forreign affairs , but to be its own friend in conversing with , and enjoying its self , and rendring it the care that it deserves . These were the rules of Justice , which he compell'd me to observe ; thus he also taught me the most genuine prudence , not to be a stranger at home , and to understand that excellent precept , which the Oracle recommended as a systeme of Philosophy to the wisest Heathen to know himself ; that the Antients accounted this the proper duty of Prudence , and that Wisdome , that makes us like God ; for the excellence is the same in different degrees in God , and in men . The Soul longing to contemplate and compare it self , and the divine mind in the same glass , to observe whether it be worthy of the Kindred that seems to be between them , and to endeavour to find out a way that cannot be describ'd , how to honour it self with this 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or participation of the Divine Nature : And by the same measures he taught me to exert Temperance , and Fortitude ; that those were truly temperate that preserved their prudence untainted , and the knowledge of their own state ; for * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . saving wisdome is true temperance , teaching me to be stedfast to my designs , and persist in my duty with vigour and courage , so as not to desert it willingly , or by violence , but to stick to my Principles ; and that this was the great preservative Virtue , the Amulet against dangers , though truly my sloth and dulness impeded my progress ; so that notwithstanding his extraordinary industry , I neither became just , nor prudent , nor temperate , nor couragious , who have not yet attain'd to the vulgar , much less to the divine accomplishments and vertues ; for they are Venerable and Eminent in themselves , nor can they be attained without the assistances of the holy Spirit . While I was neither so liberally furnisht by Nature , nor adorn'd by my own deserts , as having been negligent , and wilfully impotent in the pursuit of the best and most perfect fruitions ; it was impossible therefore for this prodigiously earnest lover and Priest of Virtue to make me virtuous , while yet under his Dictates I became a Prostrate and violent Passionist of such generous Acquisitions : This love he begat in me by his own virtue , and exposing to my view the beautiful and lovely face of Justice , of Prudence , that all men long for , and is most amiable , and of divine temperance , which settles the mind , and is the Harbinger of peace , of admirable fortitude and patience , but above all of Piety , which men justly call the Mother of all other Virtues , because it is the foundation and perfection of all Morality ; if we begin with this , other virtues will naturally , and with ease grow up in us , if so be that we love our selves , and are willing to imbrace all other virtues , which every man that is not a Slave to impious and sensual thoughts , ought to acquire , that he may be a Friend of God , that we may not be unworthily or sordidly accoutred , but guarded with Virtue and Prudence , as with an excellent Guide , and most wise Priest , may so go to God . For I can esteem nothing else to be the end of our being , than for a man being conform'd to God in the purity of his mind , to make his access to God , and to dwell with him . But besides all other objects of his industry and diligence , I cannot enough celebrate him for his care in instructing me in the Mysteries of Theology , with what a skilful Apparatus he fitted me for the learning such sublime things , cautiously providing that I might run no hazards in so necessary a part of knowledge , as was the understanding of the prime cause ; wherefore he indulged me so to follow my Philosophick Studies , that I might read all sorts of Philosophers and Poets , and reject or nauseate none of them ( for as yet my judgment was not to be trusted with chusing or refusing ) except the writings of the Atheistical Tribe , who bafling and affronting the common Notions and Principles of humane Nature , deny the being of a God , and Providence , whose Books were therefore unworthy to be perused , lest my mind should be debaucht , while intending to serve God seriously , it suffered it self to be polluted with discourses that oppose and destroy the service of God ; for they that pay their devotions at a Temple , are religiously curious , not to touch any thing that is profane : Such Books therefore must not be valued by men that put an estimate on Piety , but all other Books are so to be read , that we neither prefer nor reject the writing for its subject or stile , whether elegant or barbarous , but impartially hear all persons . This being a wise and an accurate course , lest one single sentence of this , or the other sort of Sages being heard , and had in honour , might , being alone , under the shadow of truth , though in reality it were not so , impose on our minds , and so captivate us , that it be not easie to relinquish it , or to wash off the tincture : For the discourses of men are a powerful , fit , and voluble Engine , drest up in the varieties of Sophisms , and Arts of deceiving , that as soon as they strike the Ears , suddenly make what impressions they please on the mind , perswading those who are thereby once subdued , to love such Assertions , as the genuine and infallible Emanations of truth ; and though there be no greater cheat than such an Harangue , yet it settles it self an Empire in the Soul ; and , like a Jugler , acts uncontrolled by the countenance and protection of the person deceived , the mind being naturally prone to an easie assent , and to suffer it self to be wheedled , and before it examines and discerns , either through its own dulness or weakness , or the subtilty of the discourse , to yield its credence to the shadows and appearances of reason , and to erroneous Opinions , which will enervate the understanding , and not only so , but by a strange kind of tyranny prejudice it against all talk that would undeceive it ; for what else is it that introduc't such variety of Opinions , and contrary dogmata among the Philosophers , while some so earnestly defend their own , others oppose the Sentiments of others , and a third sort introduce new ones ? and yet all profess themselves Philosophers , i. e. lovers and searchers after wisdome ; and that in their Disputations they have the same intentions which they entertained , when they were first proselyted to this course of life ; nay , that now they are more earnestly in love with Philosophy , now they have tasted the sweets of it , than when at first their rudeness , and want of experience , depriv'd them of those fruitions , and nothing but a strong bent of mind made them its followers . This they confidently boast , and will credit no man that thinks otherwise ; for which reason we find none of the Antients undertaking to perswade to be of his Opinion , any of the Neotericks , or Peripateticks , nor on the contrary ; for no man is easily induced to change an old , and subscribe to a new Opinion , though perhaps the dogma were the same , which he would easily have assented to , had he been perswaded to it before he enter'd upon a Philosophick life , his mind not being yet prejudic'd or forestalled , and so left free to love those Sentiments in opposition to what he now believes . Thus the wise and egregiously rational Sages of Greece turn'd Philosophers , every one being acted by a certain strong inclination , asserting the first Opinion that he met with as infallible , condemning the Doctrines of his fellow Sages as fallacies and trifles , while he is no better fitted to defend his own dogmata , than they are theirs ; and yet neither force nor perswasion shall make him of any other belief , having nothing to plead in his own vindication , but a certain irrational impetus , that sways him to the profession of this sort of Philosophy , as the only Systeme of Truth ; whereas this impetus is nothing but blind chance , that ingaged him to dote on what he first lighted on ; and under these Chains he languishes , and is content with his confinement , so he can catch but at the least shadow of truth and demonstration to countenance his own Assertions , and decry his Adversaries , having unhappily anticipated the convictions of his Intellect by a blind , rash , and unweigh'd prostrating himself before an Opinion : But such imaginary reasonings , as they cheat men sufficiently in other things , so most notoriously delude them in matters of the highest Cognisance , the knowledge and service of God ; and yet here they remain intangl'd and fetter'd , as men that are ingag'd in the midst of a large Quagmire , where it is impossible to go forward , or retreat , but the man must tarry till death deliver him ; or a man in a high , thick , and spacious Wood , into which he entred with expectation of passing thorough , but finds every path leading him into the thickest part of it , wanders a while , but not being able to extricate himself , sits down , and becomes an Inhabitant of the Forest ; or like one in a Labyrinth , into which seeing but one way to enter , fancies his return easie ; but when he hath past into the innermost part of it , and a while admir'd the wonderful variety and wisdome of the Apparatus , and the many pretty passages , and is willing to return , finds himself lost in those Mazes , and his escape impossible : but there is no Labyrinth so full of unintelligible windings , nor Wood so thick , nor Quagmire that so fastens a man , as the perswasions of those Philosophers , if once they take possession of the mind . But lest that might befal me , that fatally afflicts many , he acquainted me not with one particular Systeme of Philosophy , but led me through all the several Schools of those Dogmatists , that I might be ignorant of none of their Opinions , but he still went before me , guided , and led me , and demonstrated to me what was Fallacy and Sophisme , and meant to deceive , like an expert Master in the Art , to whom nothing happens unexpected , who standing on the shore , reaches out his hand to save those that are drowning . Thus among the Assertions of every Philosopher , he selected and communicated to me whatever was veracious and useful , especially what related to Piety , but condemned all false positions . He advised me not to be curious and industrious in such small things , though I might , on that account , be reputed the wisest of men ; but that my chiefest converse should be with God , and his holy Prophets , while he explained whatever was obscure and aenigmatical in their writings , as many things are in the holy Scriptures ; whether it were God's pleasure so to talk with men , that the naked and plain truth might not be committed to the breast of an unworthy Soul , as many are ; or that though all the Divine Oracles are in their own nature most perspicuous and intelligible , yet are become difficult and dark to us , who have apostatiz'd from God , and forgotten our duty , I cannot tell . But he being a most acute and intelligent Auditor of God , illustrated all those obscure passages , as if there were nothing naturally unintelligible in those writings to him , who alone , of all men that either I know or have heard of , by his constant Meditations on those pure and illuminating Oracles , is able to comprehend them in his own mind , and instil them into others . For that great Guardian and Governour of all men , who inspired the Prophets , whom God loved , with their Predictions , and mystical and divine discourses , honour'd him so as to constitute him their peculiar Interpreter , explaining by him what was revealed only in Parables to others , who being most faithful and veracious , either powerfully commanded or demonstrated those things , bestowing on this man the gift of Invention and Explanation , that if any person were of a rough and incredulous temper , or else desirous to be informed , being a Sc●olar to him , he might be compell'd to understand , and believe , and to follow God . Nor could he so express himself , had not the Spirit of God communicated it self to him , for there is need of the same power and assistances for the Prophets and their Auditors ; nor can any man understand a Prophet , unless the same Spirit that gave the Prophecy , confer on him the gift of understanding it ; and so says the holy Scripture , that he only that shuts can open , and no man else : Now when the Aenigmata of Scripture are expounded , then what is shut is open'd ; this excellent gift hath Heaven bestowed on this great Man to be God's Interpreter to the Sons of Adam , both to understand the Coelestial Oracles , as they are spoken , and to declare them to men , that they may know them : Therefore nothing was abstruse , hidden , or difficult to me , but I was fitted to dive into all things , and with all imaginable liberty , to search and experiment all sorts of Learning of the Greeks or Barbarians , Mystical or Politick , Divine or Humane , that I might satisfie my Soul with good things ; which whether you will call it an ancient Lesson of Truth , or by any other name , in him I did enjoy an admirable and full plenty of the most beautiful things . And that I may comprehend all in a few words , he was to me a Garden that emblem'd Paradise , in which my employment was , not to cultivate this inferior earth , and to pamper my body , but to embellish and adorn my nobler part with the truest sensuality and voluptuousness , like so many beautiful trees either planted by my own industry , or by the hand of God : this was the Garden of true pleasure , here did I indulge to my delights and genuine satisfactions , with which for no small time I was ravish'd , which yet will appear to be very short , if this day , when I must be gone from hence , shall put a period to my fruitions . For I know not whether my deserts or misfortune enforce me to this departure or expulsion . I am unacquainted with fit expressions to describe my state in , more than that I like another Adam am turn'd out of Paradise . How happily did I live under the instructions of so good a Master ? and how ought I now to hold my peace ? I then learn'd in silence , but is not this a prodigy , that the Master should become a Pupil ? but why should I use these words ? my duty and my interest oblige me to persevere , not to desert such studies : And is not this my crime an imitation of that first transgression ? and do not the same punishments wait for me ? am I not refractory and rebellious against the commandments of God , when I should continue in mine obedience ? but because I depart so , shunning this happy life , as the first man did the face of God , returning to the earth , out of which I was taken , dust shall I eat all the days of my life , and be sentenc'd to till that ground , that will produce nothing but bryars and thorns , that is , cares and griefs , and troubles and shame , and to return to the earth whence I came , to the house of my father , and my worldly kindred , deserting that country which I would not apprehend to be the true place of my nativity ; and those relations , who were the greatest friends of my soul , and my fathers house , where the parent is reverenc'd and honor'd by all his genuine sons ; but I unworthily and dirtily turn my eyes backward , and desert my felicity . We read of a child , Luk. 15.12 . that having received his portion went into a far country , and there intemperately spent and squandered what his father gave him ; but at length opprest by his narrow fortune , and importun'd by a craving appetite , set himself to feed Swine , and when his hunger was urgent , would have filled himself with the husks , but could not ; and he suffer'd justly the punishment of his luxury , that prefer'd that swinish diet , though he foresaw it not , to the delicacies of his Fathers Royal Table . Change but the Names , and the History suits me ; only with this difference , for I have not receiv'd my portion , but must depart , leaving behind me all things that are good and dear to me , and changing for the worst . An universal sadness hath overwhelm'd me , troubles and disturbances instead of my peace , a turbulent life , and full of distractions , instead of quiet and serene enjoyments ; and instead of my liberty , an intolerable slavery , to the noyse , and contentions , and quarrels of the Forum . For now shall I have neither time nor incouragements to pursue the best and most beneficial things , nor shall I be able to treat of divine subjects , but must discourse of the works of men , which seemed so intolerable to the Prophet , even of evil men : Instead of the beautiful light of day , darkness hath surprised me ; instead of a joyful Solemnity , a Funeral ; and instead of my Native Soyl , an Hostile Country , in which I cannot sing an holy Hymn ; For how shall I do it in a strange Land ? where they that are transported live at a great distance from God , and can only sigh and weep when they remember what they have lost . Psal. 137. It is recorded , that the Enemies of Israel took the great and holy City in which God was worshipped , and carried Captives all its Inhabitants , both the Colledge of Priests , and Quire of singing men , into Babylon , who , during their Exile , though commanded by their Governours , would not sing one of the Lord's Songs in a prophane and strange Land , but hung up their Musical Instruments on the Willows , and wept by the Rivers of Babylon . Methinks I am one of that Society , driven by force from this City and sacred Country of mine , where day and night the Divine Oracles are preach'd , with Hymns , and Songs , and Mystical discourses , where I enjoyed light , and the Beams of the Sun , and a more beautiful brightness than the day affords , while we conversed with the Divine Mysteries , and at night recollected and enjoyed in my fancy what I had seen and done by day ; and to speak all , where there is a constant divine Afflatus : From this am I ravisht , and driven to be an Exile in a strange Land , where like the poor Israelites , my Harp being hung on the Willows , I cannot sing an holy Hymn , but shall be confin'd to the Bank-side , and imploi'd in a mean and dirty calling , and be unwilling to chant the Anthems , which I remember , and perhaps my other business will impede my memory , and rob me of such acceptable thoughts ; but it were tolerable , were I forc'd to be gone as a Captive , but my own voluntary choice ingages me ; I might tarry , but I am a slave to my fancy , to my own prejudice : I court dangers , while I desert a safe and well-govern'd City ; and it is probable I may fall among Thieves , Luk. 10.30 who may rob , and wound , and leave me half dead . But why do I indulge to such extravagant lamentations ? there is the same Saviour of all men , that is a Physician and Judge for them that are wounded and robb'd , the Guardian of Mankind , and the Word that never sleeps . Nor do I depart uncultivated , but have in me the good Seeds , the excellent Precepts and Advices which thou hast taught me , which I carry with me , though it be my affliction to depart ; but perhaps my good Angel will bring me back again , to return the increase of this pains in fruits , though not mature , for how can it be so ? but such as will be produced in a secular life , debas'd by a barren or evil quality , but not by my fault , if God assist me . Here therefore will I put a period to my Harangue , having peradventure spoken more boldly than I ought , but intended as a testimony of my gratitude , according to my power . I have , I must confess , said nothing adequate to my Masters worth , nor have I altogether stifled his Merits ; and what I could not express , I have lamented , as those that leave their best Friends . I know not but some passages may be Childish , or flattering , obsolete , or superfluous ; but this I am assured of , that I feign nothing wilfully ; for my intentions were just , and my design honest and sincere , and in pursuit of truth .

‛ And now stand up , thou beloved Man , and dismiss me with thy Prayers , defend me when absent by thy Oraisons , as thou didst when present by thy Instructions , always and especially praising that God who brought me hither , and hath so bountifully blest me , beseeching him to guide me ever hereafter , ennobling my mind with the knowledge of his Commands , vouchsafing me his fear , which is the best Master , for with him I must not expect to use that liberty that I have taken with thee : Pray that he may be my Comforter ; when I desert thee , that he would send my good Angel to assist me ; and that he will compleat his mercies , by giving me an opportunity to see thee again .

THE LIFE OF S. Cyprian .

I. THE Original of this Eloquent and Pious Prelate is unknown , whatever S. Greg. Nazianzen , and after him Mr. H. Sect. 1. p. 248. with Baronius , and others , tell us of his being a Senator , who having blended the stories of this Carthaginian Martyr with another of his name , who was beheaded at Nicomedia under Diocletian , impose on the World a story mixt of both their Acts : Hence came the rise of that report , that the Father we are treating of , was a Magician , a person in love with Justina , a Virgin of Illustrious Piety , that failing to get her Affections , he turn'd Christian , and became so great a Proficient in his new Religion , as to seal it with his blood ; which story hath met with the good luck to be credited by S. Gregory the Divine , by Prudentius , and Simeon Metaphrastes , by Nicephorus and Nicetas , and by all the Greek Writers ; and among the Moderns , by Mr. H. but the Chronology can never be reconciled ; for the Bishop of Carthage was a Professor of the Liberal and Honourable Arts , says his Deacon Pontius in his Life ; the other , of Magick ; the first converted by Caecilius , a Presbyter of Carthage , and there baptized ; the last by Justina , a Noble Virgin of Antioch , and in that City baptized by the Bishop thereof ; the one martyred with Crescentianus , and three others near that Metropolis of Africk , having been condemn'd by Galerius Maximus , under the Emperours Valerian , and Gallienus ; the other at Nicomedia , condemn'd by Eutholmius , under Diocletian , and there near the River Gallus beheaded with his Justina ; and therefore the Latine Martyrology allows them two distinct Festivals , the elder on Septemb. 14. the other on Septemb. 26. which plainly evinces them to have been two distinct persons ; for as to the fancy of a a Not. in Naz. Orat. 18. tom. 2. p. 687. Billius , that there were two Cyprians , both born at Carthage , and both Bishops there ; and that the latter of them spending much time at Antioch , and there growing famous , was thence called Antiochenus , as Pomponius , though born at Rome , was called Atticus for a like reason , it savours of more love to the Fathers credit , which he is willing to vindicate , than to reason , or the truth of History . But this hath been sufficiently cleared by a a Marty●olog . Sept. 14. & Sept. 26. Baronius , b b Vit. Cypr. ante opera Pamelius , . c c Life of S. Cypr. sect. 1. p. 252 , 253. Dr. Cave , and others , and before them all by the most accurate Critick d d Cod. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 215 , 216 Photius , who gives us an account of the life of the Martyr of Antioch out of the Empress Eudoxia's three Oratitions on him , not intermixing the smallest memoire relating to our Primate of Carthage ; though I must dissent from him in his making him Arch-bishop of Antioch , for his acts in Latine make him no more than a Deacon ; nor is there any such name to be found among the Patriarchs of that See in the Catalogue of Nicephorus , nor yet of Anthimus his predecessor , nor does the Church History mention any other Bishop of that name under Dioclesian , but e e Euseb. lib. 8. cap. 6. Anthimus Bishop of Nicomedia , who was then beheaded , while that cruel persecutor resided in the City of his Episcopal charge , and when probably the junior Cyprian also was adorn'd with the same Crown .

II. The visible instrument of the conversion of this great man was Caecilius a Presbyter of Carthage , the same , as I conjecture , with him of that name , who bears a part in the Dialogue of Minutius Foelix , his name , and employ , his Country and Religion conspiring to make good the conjecture ; for that he was no Roman , is plain by the narration , which he gives of himself , f f Pag. 3. Ed. Oxon. 1627. that he left his Country and Relations to see Minutius at Rome , and g g Pag. 6. for that purpose took a voyage , which by the strongest probability must have been from Africk ; for Octavius not only calls Serapis and Osiris his Deities h h Pag. 64. ( tui Serapidis , sive Osiridis ) i.e. peculiar to that part of the World where he was born , but Fronto by the name of i i Pag. 100. tuus Fronto , whom Caecilius himself stiles k k Pag. 26. Cirtensis noster , whereas it is well known , that Cirta was a City of Numidia on the Mediterranean , the Metropolis of the Country , and the seat Royal of Massinissa , Colonia Cirta Sitianorum cognomine , as all the old Historians and Cosmographers stile it , which , say some , is Constantina the Metropolis of Bugia , others Teddeles the Metropolis of the Kingdom of Telensin . They were therefore both of them Africans , and both Christians ( for Caecilius in the end of that dialogue was a Convert ) both Marryed , a a Minut. p. 3. Caecilius leaving his Wife and infant-children behind him , when he came to Rome , and b b Pont. vit. Cypr. S. Cyprian on the death of his Converter being made a Guardian for his Family ; both of the same profession , Rhetorick , and it is probable , that S. Cyprian succeeded him in his School at Carthage , as says c c Tom. 2. an. 250. p. 440. Baronius , who also would have him to be the same Caecilius , who was made a Tutor to Diadumenus son to the Emperor Macrinus . This was the good man , whom providence thought fit to commission for the conquest of Cyprian , he was the Jonah , who preach'd repentance to him , and enclined him to embrace the Laws of Jesus , by the same methods , as the Prophet made Proselytes among the Ninivites ; not that , when Cyprian heard him , Caecilius was preaching on that Prophecy , as Mr. H. p. 250. avers , which S. Hieroms words without some straining will not bear : but that an extraordinary influence , such as the Sermon of Jonah at Ninive , is requisite to the conversion of the great and wise men of the World , since the Apostle says , not many wise , not many mighty are called .

III. At his advancement to the See of Carthage ( of which he was the most famous d d Conc. C. P. in Trull . can. 2. Arch-bishop ) I suppose Mr. H. need not , as he does , p. 251. doubt , whether he succeeded Donatus , Agrippinus , or some other . For e e Epist. 55. S. Cyprian himself mentions Donatus , as his immediate Predecessor , as Fabianus preceded Cornelius . And whereas f f De bapt. contra Donat. lib 2. cap. 7 , 8 , 9 S. Austin frequently calls Agrippinus his Predecessor , he intends it only of one , who sate in that Episcopal throne before him , without relation to him , who sate last there . And if Agrippinus were the first in the African Churches , who asserted the Doctrine of re-baptization , as both S. Austin and S. Cyprian intimate , then he must have been antienter than Tertullian , especially if that story be true , that that most learned Father was sowr'd into Montanisme by missing the Bishoprick of Carthage on the death of Agrippinus , g g Ep. 73. p. 105. S. Cyprian glorying , that many years were past since the Prelates under Agrippinus determined this point , which would hardly amount to so long a space , if S. Cyprian immediately succeeded him .

IV. Who the Libellatici were in the Primitive Church hath been a disputable question . Baronius , and after him , Mr. H. p. 255. appropriating the term to such , as privately denying the name of Christ , were by virtue of a Libel of security , exempted from publick sacrificing , and the rage of persecution ; but will by no means allow the title to be applicable to those , that did neither sacrifice , nor anathematize their Saviour , but only paid a great sum to be exempted from the penalty of the Law ; whereas a a Ep. 52. p. 58. & de laps . p. 145. S. Cyprian peculiarly calls these the Libellati ; but this mistake proceeds from not distinguishing the b b Vid. Dr. Cave's Prim. Chr. part 3. c. 5. several sorts of Libellatici , the last sort of which were those , who in nothing complyed with the Heathen rites , only paid a great sum to the greedy Magistrate , and by that means smooth'd the ruggedness of his temper , and took off the edge of his fury , the man being Non tam crimine , quàm errore deceptus , says this Father , not so much guilty of a crime , as a mistake .

V. These in some Churches were injoyned penance , as in the Church of Carthage in Cyprian's time , but at other times in the same ; and other Churches were not only allowed , but advised to such a purchase of their freedom and security . c c Epist. Canonic . Can. 12. p. 25. Ed. Paris . 1622. S. Peter the Patriarch of Alexandria , and a Martyr under Dioclesian , in his discourse of penance freeing the act from irregularity . That it was no sin to sacrifice their money to the interests of their souls , and lose their wealth to secure their consciences , such actions being a publick preferring God to Mammon , and his service to worldly concerns , and a fulfilling of that piece of Scripture , Prov. 13.8 . that a man's Estate is the ransom of his life , and a complying with our Saviour not to serve God and Mammon , Act. 17.9 . a course recommended by the example of Jason and Sosthenes , and others , paying a sum for their release at Thessalonica ( 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , our translation reads it , giving security ) And if it be objected , that in the days of S. Peter of Alexandria the Church discipline was more relax'd than in S. Cyprians , it seems to appear by the usages of the Catholick Church in Tertullian's time , that it was recommended as a piece of Christian prudence and policy , as well as to fly in time of persecution . d d De fuga in persecut. cap. 12 , 13. Tertullian for this reason smartly upbraiding the Orthodox with their remisness and cowardise , and sarcastically girds them , that with Taverns and Bawdy-houses , they paid a Tribute for their toleration . The different usages being considerable in the same Church in so small a space , nor will it be so easie to reconcile the Master , and his Scholar , unless we shall say , that the Catholick custome had its relation only to the purchasing their quiet , while those , who enjoyed the benefit of such protection , still publickly owned themselves Christians ; but the criminals in S. Cyprian were such , who to obtain this security , were content to have their names registred among those , that did sacrifice , though they did not actually sacrifice , of which Apostates from their holy Profession , it seems , by Pliny , they kept a Catalogue , whereby they could not be altogether guiltless , while notwithstanding the retention of their Innocence , they were numbred among the Transgressors , being guilty of the most notorious Hypocrisie , while they were willing , that the Judges should make the Emperors believe , that they had sacrificed ( though in truth they did not ) not carrying it with that clearness and openness , that resolution and constancy , that became Christians .

VI. In the account of this Martyrs Virtues p. 262. Pont. Vit. Cypr. circ. med. Mr. H. hath omitted one of the most signal Testimones of his Humility , in declining the Episcopal Honour when offered him ; as also of his Charity and Compassion , when the cruel Plague raged at Carthage , incouraging the Christians both by his Example and Discourses to be assistant to the needs of their Brethren , and of their Heathen Fellow-Citizens too , preparing them by his excellent Tractate concerning Mortality to reflect on , and make provision for another life . But this , and several other remarkable passages omitted by Mr. H. are accurately recorded by the so often , and so justly praised Dr. Cave , in his life of this Father ; although the Martyr's own Epistles give us a full account of his Excellencies and Traverses ; but above all of the ancient Church-Discipline , wherein a a Is . Casaub . ●p . ad Card. Perron . p. 41. we find a more full account of the Ecclesiastical Polity , than in many Authors of the Fourth Saeculum .

VII . The foul usage , which this Father hath met with at the hands of Pamelius , will find in me an easie assent on the account of so many Manuscript Copies that want the Interpolations ; yet I cannot but remarque , that the most acute and judicious Primate of Armagh , b b Answ. to Baxt. Gret . relig. ch. 6. p. 96 , &c. Bramhall , . does give his Opinion differently from others in these words . Every one is free for me to make what Exceptions he pleases to the various Lections of any of these places ( which are the same that Mr. H. p. 277. quotes ) but there seems to me to be enough in S. Cyprian to declare his own mind without taking any advantages from any supposititious practises , meaning , that it was correspondent to his c c P. 92 , 93. former Corollaries . 1. That S. Peter had a fixt Chair at Rome , which S. Cyprian , Epist. 52. and Ep. 55. calls , The Seat and Chair of S. Peter . 2. That S. Peter had a Primacy of Order among the Apostles , this being the unanimous vote of the Primitive Church , and our own ; the prime Romanists themselves granting , that he had no Supremacy or Jurisdiction over any other Apostle , he not having that Commission as an Ordinary Pastor , the rest as Delegates for term of life . 3. Some Fathers and School-men , no sworn Vassals to the Pope , affirm , That this Primacy of Order is fixt to S. Peter's Chair and his Successors for ever ; i. not to the person of any particular Pope , but to the Office ; and that this is S. Cyprian's meaning ; but this Primacy , not due by Christ's Institution , nor the Chair fixt at Rome by Divine Right , as d d De Pont. Rom. lib. 4. cap. 4. Bellarmine confesses , and for any other Title , whatsoever is constituted by Humane Right may be repealed by Humane Right . So that excellent Primate , and I leave the Reader to judge of his reasonings . Nor will this Concession any thing advance the Interest and Grandeur of the present Roman Court , the difference being so vast between Primacy and Supremacy , which Usurpations none of the Ancients with so much vehemence oppugn , as S. Cyprian , which might be proved by many hundred Arguments out of his Writings .

VIII . A great part of this Fathers works owe not only their Ornament and Beauty , but their very Substance and Being to Tertullian , which is so palpable , that it needs no proof ; as his Book de Idolorum vanitate , is an Epitome of Octavius his reasonings in Minutius Foelix , ( and this also is another Argument to perswade me , that the Caecilius there mention'd was the Converter of S. Cyprian ) his Tractates De exhortatione Martyrii ad Fortunatum , & Testimoniorum adversus Judaeos , &c. are undoubtedly his , whatever Erasmus , Scultetus , or our Country-man Cook say to the contrary ; a different style not being a sufficient Argument to mis-father any writing ; for then S. Cyprian's second Epistle should not be his , being penn'd in a more florid and sublime style , than any other of his Epistles or Tractates . — the Greek Forms of Speech in his third Book of Testimonies ad Quirinum are allowable in a discourse , which wholly consists of Quotations out of Scripture , most out of the old Testament , which this Father , as all the Ancients , usually quote according to the Translation of the Septuagint , and the constant use of such passages might easily have some influence , and leave a tincture on his other Language in the same Book .

IX . His style shows him to be Tertullian in a more pleasing and gentile dress , in more familiar and elegant Expressions , retaining the Majesty of his Speech , and abating the haughtiness of it , making it smooth and palatable . The Christian Caesar Alsted calls him , others the Christian Cicero , and Dr. Holdsworth , Demosthenes among the sacred Orators , all men acknowledging him a neat and admirable Writer . His vein of writing is very fluent , and his notions taking , but the piety of his discourses is transcendent , not a page in him but what is full of peculiar recommendations of Holiness and Obedience , many of which Mr. H. hath collected very judiciously , and I should say so of all , had not the love of a Party ( the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) betray'd him , and the Dream of a Congregational form of Church-Discipline in these early days imposed on his Intellect . Hence p. 302. he tells us , That the People had their voice in the Election of their Bishop even in Rome it self . And p. 303. That such was their Interest in the managery of the Affairs of the Church , that the Bishop did nothing without their Counsel , and Consent , which last passage , p. 270. he reckons among those Sentences , which are remarkable , and of use in these Epistles .

X. And happy had it been for Mr. H.'s Reader , if the Father had appear'd in his own dress , while the Garb he is now put in , makes him look very strangely , and of this I make all learned men Judges , whether the words of the a a Cypr. Ep. 68. p. 96. 68th Epistle , and Mr. H.'s Translation do so exactly agree . It was the Custom at Carthage , and in most other Provinces , says this learned Prelate , according to Divine Tradition and Apostolical Observation , that in a regular Ordination ( of a Bishop ) ad eam plebem , cui praepositus ordinatur , Episcopi ejusdem provinciae proximi quique conveniant , & Episcopus delegatur , plebe praesente , quae singulorum vitam plenissimè novit . This Mr. H. thus Translates , The Bishops of the same Province , next unto the People , over whom the Chief Officer is ordained , do convene , or meet together , and then the Bishop be chosen , in the presence of the people , who mosh fully know the Life and Conversation of every one . Which how distant it is from the genuine Construction , let the Grammarians determine ; the words being thus to be English'd . That in Canonical Ordinations , every one of the Neighbour-Bishops of that Province meet ad eam plebem , among that people , or at that City , over which a new Prelate is to be ordain'd , who is chosen in the presence of all the people , &c. and so convenire ad aliquem , in Cicero , signifies to meet at such a place , & ad signa conveniunt milites , in Caesar , the Souldiers are gather'd to their Standard , or are drawn up about their Ensigns . And as we have here a wrong Translation wilfully , I fear , falleninto , so , p. 303. the Father is as much abused by an imperfect account of his Judgment . For when he says , That the People have in an especial manner a power of chusing worthy Priests , or refusing the unworthy , and that this Custom descended from the Divine Authority ; he there puts a period , omitting the subsequent words , that fully explain his meaning . Vt sacerdos plebe praesente &c. That the Bishop should be publickly chosen in the presence of the people , that the worthy , and fit Person might be approved by universal Testimony , as God commanded Moses to take Aaron , and Eleazar his Son into the Mount Hor in the sight of all the Congregation , Num. 20.27 , 28. and strip Aaron of his Garments , and put them on Eleazar . God commanded it to be done before all the Congregation , to instruct us , that the Ordinations of Bishops ought not to be made , but with the knowledge , and assent of the People present , that before the multitude the Evil actions of wicked men , who aspire to that dignity , might be detected , and the Vertues of the deserving duly praised , and so the ordination might be just , and lawful , which was examined , and confirm'd by the Suffrage , and Judgment of all persons . By which we see that the Power of Elections was still in the Bishops of the province , but of making just exceptions to the Conversation of the Candidate in the people .

XI . It is true , Vide Spalatens . lib. 3. cap. 3. per totum . that the People were always present at such Solemnities , that a Bishop , or Priest might not be imposed on them against their consents . The consent of the People , says a a Homil. 6. sup. Levit. Origen , is required in the ordination of a Priest , that all men may be ascertained , that he is chosen to that sacred Office , who excels the people in learning , in holiness , and all manner of Virtue . And this is done in the presence of the People to prevent all future scruples , and that this is what the Apostle enjoyns , that a Bishop must have a good Testimony of them , that are without . The Custom being , when the name of the Bishop Elect was proposed by the Deacon ( b b Id. lib. 8. contr. Cels . ad fin . whose Office it was ) that the People should cry out , such a Person is worthy , such unworthy . So the Politiae Patrum informs us , that when Alexander was chosen to the see of Constantinople , the multitude for many hours together cryed out ΑΞΙΟΣ , he is worthy ; and when d d Philostorg . lib. 9. tm . 10. p. 127. Demophilus was to be Elected to the same Patriarchate , the people instead of crying out ΑΞΙΟΣ , cryed out ἈΝΑΞΙΟΣ he is unworthy of so sublime a Throne .

XII . This was the common practice , but in some places , and on some peculiar Emergencies , the people did also give their suffrages , as in the case of e e Aug. Ep. 120. Eradius , who succeeded S. Austin , it being the Custom in Africk , in Spain , and other places , and continued till the days of the Emperour Lewis in the West , and in those days it was very reasonable , f f Cod. lib. 1. tit. 3. de Episc. & Clero . l. 31. the law requiring that he , who should be intrusted with the Episcopal Charge quaeratur cogendus &c. should be a man of unparalled modesty , one that fled from the dignity , and was forc'd to assume the honour . But that the people should impose on their superiors to consecrate whomsoever they should nominate , or that their suffrages in the Election was a Catholick Custom , cannot be true : For this is the difference between the Church of England and Mr. H. Blondel , Owen , and others , not that the Bishops out of condescension , when they wanted a fit person to be made a Priest , or Deacon , advised the people to choose one , whom they might lay hands on , as the Apostles did , Act. 6.1 . nor that they proposed the name of that person to the People , whom themselves elected , that they might either applaud , or object against his manners , but that the Peoples acceptation was a necessary condition , and that no Rulers of the Church were duly ordered , but whom the people elected . For this was expresly forbidden in the Council of a a Can. 12 , 13. Laodicea , which allows the peoples testimony of the laudable life of the person to be consecrated , but directly requires , that he be elected , and constituted by the Metropolitan , and Bishops of the Province , but by no means to be chosen by the people . And b b Tom. 4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in 2 Tim. p. 371. S. Chrysostome decrys it from that of the Apostle , they heap to themselves teachers , than which there can be nothing more emphatical , says he , the Apostle blaming the evil custome , that their teachers were ordained by their disciples . And Pope c c Cit. à Pamel in not . ad Cypr. p. 97. Leo particularly allots all persons concerned their stations in this employ , the Citizens were allowed to desire a Bishop , the people to give their testimony of his life , the Nobless to be Arbiters , but the Clergy alone to elect ; and d d Theodoret. hist. l. 4. c. 20. Vide Liberati breviar. c. 14. de Proterio Alexandr . & Flor. fragm. apud Baron . tom. 12. in Append. an. 813. Peter the Patriarch of Alexandria , Athanasius's Successor , complains of Lucius the Arian usurper of his See , that he had neither the confirmation of his neighbour Bishops , nor the suffrages of the Clergy , nor the desires of the People , as the Canons did require , but that he purchas'd that honour by unjust and simoniacal means . And if there did arise any quarrel , the Arch-bishop of the Province was to decide the controversie , or the Metropolitan , or a Provincial Synod , and sometimes a general Council , as in the case of Meletius , and Paulinus , Patriarchs of Antioch , and of Ignatius , and Photius Archbishops of Constantinople .

XIII . For all the publick Acts of the Church in the Apostles times , and some while after , were done at the publick assemblies of the same , so were Ordinations , Excommunications , and other Ecclesiastical proceedings ( and so is it now used in our Church , where in Ordinations the by-standers are called to testifie , what they have to object against the person , who is a candidate for the imposition of hands , and the bannes of Matrimony are publish'd in the face of the congregation ) to give satisfaction to the people of their Superiors integrity , and to prevent their jealousies by this Act of condescension , and to oblige their superiors to that integrity by making their proceedings publick , and by these means to preserve the unity of the Church ; but as such acts were past at the Assemblies of the whole Church , so were they advised , and resolved on at the Consistories of the Clergy , the People having no power , but a right to be satisfied of the right use of that power by them that had it , e e Vide Thorndyke of the right of a Ch. in a Christ . State . ch. 3. p. 159 , &c. for as to Ordinations , they were regularly to be made at a Synod of Bishops . Hence f f Ad Corinth . p. 57. S. Clemens Romanus , that those , who were constituted by the Apostles , or Apostolical men were admitted to this Office with the good liking of the whole Church , which I suppose he interprets afterwards , saying , That they were men well spoken of by all persons . For that those words cannot mean their Election by the People , is plain from what immediately precedes , That the Apostles in what places soever they preached , made their first converts Bishops of those places , not of the people already converted , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , of such as should for the future believe , and this they did by a peculiar afflatus , and guidance of the holy spirit , and by the same supernatural revelation they left a Catalogue of what persons should succeed in those Sees ; to prevent the quarrels that should arise about this authority .

XIV . So Timothy was ordained by Prophecy , 1 Tim. 4.14 . i. not by any humane constitution , but by the holy Ghost , as Chrysostom , and Oecumenius understand the place . And so in after ages was a a Nyss. tom. 2. p. 976. Gregory Thaumaturgus elected , when he was in the Wilderness , not by the People , for then there were only 17 Christians in the City of Neo-Caesarea , but by Phoedimus a Bishop of Amasea a neighbor City , acted , as I conjecture , by some Prophetick and Divine impulse , as b b Euseb. hist. l. 6. c. 9. Alexander the Bishop of Jerusalem , was chosen to that Patriarchate , by Revelation . And at other times the Emperors took on them the nomination , for c c Sozom. l. 7. c. 8. Theodosius the Great chose Nectarius Patriarch of Constantinople , and d d Id. lib. 8. cap 12. Arcadius nominated Chrysostome his Successor , and Nestorius was deputed to the same honour by e e Socrat. l. 7. c. 29. the Junior Theodosius , when there were great disputes between Philip and Proclus , for that Patriarchate . And at f f Hieron . Ep. 85. Alexandria it was the custome from S. Mark to Heraclas , and Dionysius , for the Presbyters to chuse a new Patriarch out of their own College , and this presently on the death of their former Bishop , g g Epiphan. haeres. 69. for peace sake , that there might be no contentions among the people ; which custome was after ward altered to gratifie the vulgus , in as much as the want of these Popular suffrages was objected against Athanasius by the Arrians , from which he is cleared not only by the Prelates of his own Province in their Synodical Epistle , but by h h Orat. 31. p. 377. vide eund. Orat. 19. p. 310. & S. Chrysost. de Sacerdot . Tom. 6. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 23. who expresly , and with vehemence decry such popular Elections . S. Gregory Nazianzen , affirming that he was advanced to the throne of S. Mark by the votes of all the People , after the Apostolical and Spiritual manner , but not after that ill custom , which afterward crept in , by blood and tyranny .

XV. Which mischiefs , that attended these popular proceedings were enough , if there were no other reason , to discountenance their continuance , when we remember , what seditions were made at i i Naz. Orat. 19. p. 308. Caesarea in the choice of their Arch-bishop , and at k k Ruffin . hist. lib. 2. c. 11. Millain on the death of Auxentius , but especially what scandal was given to the Heathen World in the quarrel between Damasus , and Vrsicinus for the Popedome , there being in this feud a a Amian . Marcel . lib. 27. found the bodies of no less than 137 persons slain , and that in the Church of Sicininus in one day , and between b b Symmach. Epp. lib. 10. Ep. 71 , 72 , &c. Boniface , and Eulatius for the same title , both recorded by the Enemies of our Holy Faith ? In which last story among the Epistles of Symmachus ( who was concerned in the affair , and gave the Emperor an account of it ) we have one writ by the Roman Clergy to Honorius and Theodosius , wherein we may see the peoples interest in this affair , more than what they tumultuously usurp'd , while they assure those Princes , c c Ep. 74 p. 340. Edit. Schiop . that at the election of Boniface were present 9 Bishops of the Province , and 70 Presbyters , which subscribed , and that he was chosen by the consent of the better sort of Citizens , and acclamations of the common people , the election , which was by subscription , being the act of the Priests , and Bishops only .

XVI . So much in the general , and for S. Cyprian's own case , that he would do nothing without the people , it was perchance an excellent piece of policy in him , who had been opposed from his first entrance on his Bishoprick by Fortunatus and Faelicissimus , and the Presbyters of their faction , who sought all occasions to bespatter him , and win the people from him , especially laying to his charge his withdrawing in the time of persecution , as an act of great cowardise . And yet we see , he was not afraid to oppose the judgment of the people , when he saw cause ; as d d Ep. 55. p. 70. in the case of the Lapsi , mentioning his admitting some to the Communion , though the people opposed , and contradicted him . And in the case of elections , he in his retirement chuses e e Ep. 35. p. 42. Numidicus a most eminent Confessor into the Colledge of Presbyters at Carthage without consulting the multitude , and that as a step to a higher Office , i. e. the Episcopal . And this also he did in the case of f f Epist. 33. Aurelius , g g Epist. 24. Optatus . and Saturus . Nor would so many schismatical Elections and Ordinations have been made in the present Church , had Mr. H. and his brethren duly minded that passage of this holy man , which he quotes p. 304. That the contempt of the Bishop hath been the occasion of all Heresies and Schismes .

XVII . § . 6. Mr. H. undertakes a Catalogue of the errors of S. Cyprian , among which his opinion of free-willhath been formerly vindicated , or if not , himself hath done it for me , as Goulart hath apologiz'd for his so highly commending almes , as if they purg'd away sins . To which I will subjoyn , that in the sacred writings the words 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Misericordia and Misericors are by the Septuagint translated by 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , & 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( as the Hebrews reciprocally call almes 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , says h h In Thisbiapud Drus . quaest. Hebraic . lib. 2. quaest. 81. Elias Levita ) so it is rendred Gen. 19.19 . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , thou hast magnified thy mercy , and Ch. 21.23 . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , according to the kindness , which I have shown thee , and in many other places , as also in the New Testament , as Tit. 2.4 . 2 Cor. 9.9 . on which last place a a Tom. 3. p. 651. S. Chrysostome avers , that the Apostle calls that righteousness , which we call charity . And so some very learned men understand the word in Mat. 5.20 . and some Copies read 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 instead of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Mat. 6.1 . Vid. Drus . ubi sup. Gregor. notes , ch. 14. & Knatchbul in 1 Mat. 19. alios . and so the old Translation renders it , Videte ne justitiam vestram faciatis coram hominibus . And the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 must be so interpreted , Mat. 1.19 . For had Joseph been exactly just , he ought to have made the B. Virgin , being with child , a publick example , but being a merciful man , he resolved to put her away privately . A character , that is given to the other Joseph , that he was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a good man , and a charitable , as I would render it , Luke 23.50 . And so I would understand the word in b b Pag. 16. Ed. Usser . S. Polycarp's Epistle , when having said , that covetousness is the root of all evil , he subjoyns , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , let us arm our selves with charity . And if we search the holy Records , we shall find it to have been God's Method , c c Ps. 18.25 . To the merciful to shew himself merciful ; and his advices are proportionable to the d d Is. 58.6 , &c. Israelites , and e e Dan. 4.27 . Nebuchadnezzar , to break off his sins by righteousness , and his iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor . And to all men f f Luc. 6.38 to give , and it shall be given unto them , full measure , pressed down , and running over . For great is the reward of almes , Clem. Const. Apost. lib. 7. c. 13. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Lactant. Inst. lib. 6. c. 12. magna est misericordiae merces , cui Deus pollicetur se omnia peccata remissurum . Vid. Maximi homil. p. 244. — alios . which procure remission of sins , say Clemens and Lactantius , to omit the other Fathers , who to this purpose generally quote that passage of the Wise man , Ecclus 3.30 . That as water quencheth fire , so almes quench transgression . And is it not implyed in that of Solomon , Prov. 16.6 . That by mercy iniquities are purged ?

XVIII . The term satisfaction ( notwithstanding the note of inconsiderateness affixt to the assertion by Mr. H. ) means something more in the Ecclesiastical signification of the word , than a bare compensation made to the Church by penance for the scandal given , there being also some satisfaction to be made to God , and such in truth is repentance . For as I make satisfaction to a man , when instead of reviling him , as I was wont , I make it my business to celebrate his fame ; so when instead of a profligate course of life , wherewith God is offended , and his name dishonored , I love and practise the laws of virtue , I may be said to make satisfaction to God for my former crimes and enormities . So a a De Dogmat . Eccles. cap. 54. Gennadius gives the sense of the Church , satisfaction as a part of repentance is the cutting off the causes of transgressions , and resolutions never to indulge to sinful suggestions . The approving of the man to another , by doing his duty , being the sense of the word among Heathen Authors . But this satisfaction , as it relates to God , is not of condignity , but congruity , the Divine Majesty being inclined by the Penitent's Humility and Contrition to release him from the punishments due to his sin , not from temporal punishment , which must be suffered after the offence is pardoned , as says the Church of Rome , but from Eternal Torments . So b b De Poenitent . c. 5. Tertullian , habes , cui satisfacias , & quidem volentem — confessio satisfactionis consilium est , satisfactio confessione disponitur , confessione poenitentia nascitur , paenitentiâ Deus mitigatur — and this word he afterward interprets by pudeo , & maceror , & excrucior , ut Deum reconciliem mihi , quem delinquendo laesi , and from him S. Cyprian had the word . So c c L. 5. c. 13. Lactantius , Deo satisfacere liceat fide , & paenitentiâ , And d d Hom. 1. de jejun . S. Basil for the Greek Church , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , per jejunium Deo satisfacito , as Billius interprets it .

XIX . The giving the Eucharist to Infants was the practice of the Universal Church for full 600 years after our Saviour , as e e In Joh. 6.53 . Maldonate confesses , and hath that place of S. John 6.53 . for its Foundation and Antiquity , and a general consent for its Supporters , and what is so seconded is truly Catholick . That it was the Opinion of the African Churches , Cypr. de Laps . Sect. 20. p. 145. August . ad Bonifac. Ep. 23. & Ep. 107. ad Vital . & passim . Innecent . Ep. ad Patr. Conc. Milevit . inter Ep. Aug. 93. Hieron . adv. Lucifer . Paulin. Ep. 12. ad Sever. Cyril . Jeros . Cateches. 3. c. 1. Dionys. Areopag . Eccles. Hierarch . lib. 3. c. 7. we have the Testimony of S. Cyprian , and S. Austin ; of the Western Churches , Pope Innocent the First , S. Hierom , and Paulinus , and of the Eastern it is affirm'd by S. Cyril of Jerusalem , and Dionysius the Areopagite . The Doctrine being every-where asserted and believed , that without this Sacrament no Salvation was to be had , and this , says S. Austin , from an ancient and Apostolical Tradition derived to his Age. The Custom is yet continued in the f f Smyth de hodier . Gr. Eccles. statu . p. 101 , 102. Greek and g g Abud . hist. Jacobit . c. 9. p. 14. &c. 13. p. 18. Aethiopian , the Armenian , and Aegyptian , and Maronite Churches unto this day , and among the h h Olearii Itiner . lib. 3. p. 143. Muscovites , in case of sickness , it is given to Children that are past seven years old , when they think they begin to sin mortally : And it is now retained among the Bohemians and Moravians ; so that in the Southern , Eastern , and Northern Churches it is yet retain'd , and in the West , in the days of a a Capitular . Car. M. l. 1. c. 161. Charlemaigne it was enjoyned ; it was in use in the days of b b Erud . Theolog. de Sacramd. 1. c. 20. Hugo de S. Victore , c c Part. 3. q. 80. art. 12. and Aquinas , when he mentions Children , as wanting discretion to be cautious enough in the use of the Sacrament , seems to imply , that to communicate Infants continued till his time ; and in an old d d Apud Chamier . tom. 4. l. 9. c. 9. sect. 14. Ritual found at Glaritz among the Swisse-Cantons , it is commanded that the Eucharist be forth-with given to Infants baptized ; and e e Loc. com . sect. de coen . dom. p. 610. Ed. 1563. Musculus calls it a Catholick Custom , affirming , that in his native Country of Lorraine there was in his time retain'd a shadow of that ancient usage ; for as soon as the Infant was baptized , the Priest , who did that charitable Office , took some of the Fragments of the Sacramental Bread , reserved in the Pix , and shewing one of them to the people , put it again into the Pix , and then gave his fingers to be wash'd in Wine by his Sacristan ; which done , he dropt a little of that Wine into the mouth of the Infant , saying , Sanguis domini Jesu Christi proficiat tibi in vitam aeternam , which is agreeable to what is asserted by Hugo de S. Victore , nor was the usage ever forbidden till the last , and worst of Councils at Trent .

XX. And it is observable , that the Romish Church forbad it , not because it could not benefit Children , but to keep up the Opinion of their fondling Transubstantiation , f f Franc. à Victoria relect. de Eucharist . n. 75. lest the queasie stomach of a Child should dishonour the Body and Blood of Christ by casting it up again after reception . This was anciently practis'd , g g Est . in 4. part. 1. ●ist . 12. Sect. 9. to withdraw the people from the Idol Sacrifices , of which some parts were distributed to the Attendants , and put into the mouths of Infants ; nor is it without the countenance of other reasons ; h h Mus●ul . ubi supr. p. 611. for if Infants be Partakers of the thing signified , viz. the benefits of the death of Christ , who shall forbid them the sign ? and if they be Members of Christ's body ( for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven , i.e. the Church , Mark 10.14 . ) which body is partaker of one Bread , and one Cup , who shall debar them that Food which Christ allots for his Members ? and why it should be more unlawful for Children to receive the Eucharist , than to eat the Passe-over , I know not . And for S. Paul's advice , that every one must first examine himself , which Infants cannot do , it only relates to those of whom there is fear of eating , and drinking unworthily , but there is no such fear of Infants , whose original sin is done away in Baptisme , and who are not capable of committing actual sins because they offend not with deliberation and choice ; and if they may be baptiz'd , though they cannot personally believe , but only by their sureties , why not be communcated , when they cannot examine themselves , especially while they are baptized without any disposition at all to that Sacrament ; but when they are communicated , they have received already some dispositions towards the reception of that Sacrament , viz. the grace , which is confer'd on them in Baptism . So much for this practice , and I have somewhat enlarg'd my self , to shew that the Fathers were not without their reasons for so doing , though I profess my self to be of the opinion of the Church of England in this case , which rather thinks fit to debar Infants the Communion , and requires Catechizing in the Principles of Religion , Confirmation by the hands of a Bishop , and a solemn entry on the practice of the Laws of Christianity before admission to this blessed , and tremendous Sacrament .

XXI . The mixing Water with Wine in the Eucharist was a Custom common in the days of a a Apolog. 2. Justin Martyr and b b Lib. 4. c. 57. Irenaeus both in the East and West , and of S. Cyprian in the South , c c Ep. 63. p. 85. who at large pleads for it , as what he was enjoyned to use by a Miraculous notice from Heaven ; it being not improbable , that our Saviour according to the Custom of those Eastern Countreys did dilute the rich and brisk Wines , Vide Ambros de Sacram . l. 5. c. 1. alios . which he drank , as a Testimony of Sobriety . For that our great Master did so celebrate is expresly mentioned in the Liturgies of S. James , S. Mark , S. Basil , and S. Chrysostom ; and according to this pattern did b b Carth. 3. can . 24. Aurelian . 4. can . 4. Antissiodor . c. 8. &c. the ancient Councils enjoyn all holy Priests to officiate those mysteries , and c c De Dogmat . vet. Eccl. c. 75. Gennadius numbers it among the Catholick practices of the age that he lived in ; nor was the Church without good reason , beside the Example of the Son of God . 1. To testifie , that Christ is the true rock , whence flow the Waters of Eternal life , and which was typified by that Rock , that followed the Israelites in the Wilderness , so says d d De Sacramen . l. 5. c. 1. S. Ambrose . 2. Because both Water , and Blood issued out of the side of Christ , when on the Cross , so all the ancient Liturgies , and Fathers . 3. To testify the mystical union , that is betwixt Christ , and his Church , which relation is cemented by his passion ; the Wine representing the blood of Christ , and the Water the vast multitudes of the Christian Churches ; for as Water , and Wine will so mix , that they cannot be separated , so nothing shall divorce his Church from his love , and embraces . So e e Epist. 63. & Cone . Brac. 3. can. 1. S. Cyprian . And perhaps a fourth reason was to testify the union of the Divine and humane Nature in the Person of the Mediator of mankind . In missa Lat. Edit. Argent . 1557. operd Illyrici . Deinde Diaconus accipiat à subdiacono vinum , & miscent cum aqu● in calice , dicens : Deus , qui humanae substantiae dignitatem mirabiliter condidisti , & mirabilius reformâsti , da nobis , quaesumus , per hujus aquae , & vini mysteria ejus divinitatis esse consortes , qui humanitatis nostrae dignatus est fieri particeps , Jesus Christus . For it is not a little observable , that besides what the antient Liturgies mention of this nature , as soon as the Armenians by the perswasion of Jacobus Syrus imbrac'd the errors of Eutyches , condemn'd the Council of Chalcedon , and would acknowledge only one Nature in the second Person of the Trinity , they left off the use of intermixing Water with the Wine in the Sacrament , and under Johannes Ozniensis their Patriarch , ( with leave from the Caliph of Babylon and Omir the General of the Saracens , who had overrun Armenia ) by the consent of his own Suffragans , and six Bishops of Assyria , it was past into a Synodical decree , that no longer Water should be mixt with Wine in the Eucharist , they pretending the Authority of S. Chrysostom for their so doing . Which determination of that Church was presently after condemn'd by the Fathers of the sixth general Council at Constantinople , f f Can. 32. and every Prelate , or Presbyter transgressing the Apostolical practice was to be depos'd for his pride , and contumacy . Notwithstanding which they still continue the usage , and so do g g Abuda . Hist. Jacobit . c. 13. p. 18. the Jacobites in Egypt , and elsewhere to this day . But the Greeks are so far from countenancing the practice of such Schismaticks , as they stile them , that they make this mixture twice in the Sacrament . For while the sacred Elements are preparing , the h h Goar . Not in Liturg . Chrysost. n. 167. Smyth de hod. Gr. Eccl. statu . p. 90. Priest with the Knife ( they call it the holy lance ) is to prick the bread , and to say these words . One of the Soldiers thrust a Lance into his side , and presently there flowed out Water and Blood . And at the same time the Deacon is to pour out the Wine , and put to it some cold Water ; and again after the consecration of the Elements , just as they are to be given to the Communicants , the Deacon after the Priest hath blessed it , poureth warm water into the chalice , and so delivers it to the Communicants , and this to testify , that that water , which issued from the side of Christ , came out miraculously warm , as if he had been alive , exhibiting to us a Type of our union to that Saviour thereby ; and withal to exemplify the fervour of Faith , and the holy Spirit , which should accompany all those that approach the holy table ; and I find in the order for the Communion under K. Edward the sixth , That the Priest is required to bless and consecrate the biggest Chalice , or some fair and convenient Cup or Cups full of Wine , with some Water put to it . — Which Custom was afterward , I know not for what reason , altered . And this was thought so necessary , that many were apt to run into the other extream , and to think that the mixture was not duly made till there were as much , or more Water than Wine in the Chalice ; bordering on the Heresie of the Aquarii , who adminstred this mystery only in Water ( or rather on that sort of them i i Ubi supr. which Cyprian treats of , who in the Evening celebrated the Sacrament as Christ instituted it , mixing Water with Wine in the Chalice , but in the morning used only Water out of caution lest the smell of the Wine might betray them to be Christians to their Gentile Adversaries . ) k k Bernard . Epist. 69. Others thought Water indispensably necessary to the integrity of the Sacrament , ( and for that reason perhaps the Church of England hath omitted the usage ) but even the Church of Rome it self is not so rigid , allowing the consecration to be valid without it .

XXII . Hitherto lasted the Age of Miracles , the Divine Goodness and Omnipotence using extraordinary Methods to countenance and propagate its supernatural truths , that the Infancy of the Church might be assisted , with as strong and convictive encouragements to believe the Doctrine of Jesus , as rational and perswasible persons could desire . But the several sorts of these stupendous Charismata , were not equally long liv'd , but according to the divers necessities of the Proselytes to Religion , some expired sooner , and some later took their leave of the Christian World . The gifts of speaking with , and interpretation of divers Tongues suddenly ceast on the Conversion of the greatest part of the then known world , and the modelling of Churches in every Nation , because before their Christian assemblies were made up of men of diverse Nations , and Languages , though e e Lib. 2. c. 57. & apud Euseb. lib. 5. c. 7. Irenaeus affirms , that these miraculous gifts were extant in his time ; the spirit of Prayer ceas'd on the forming and establishing set Liturgies for the use of the Church , which we have already probably evinc'd , were of Apostolical appointment . The power of discerning spirits , whether men were sincere and orthodox in their profession , or the Pretenders to Miracles were truly endowed with that supernatural faculty , was left to the Governours of the Church for a while , till the sacred Canon of the Scripture was collected , by which after-Ages were to be guided , though a a De cura pro mort . c. 16. ad fin . cap. S. Austin seems to imply , That that power was not wholly lost in his time . The infliction of temporal punishments on Offenders lying under the Churches curse , which sometimes extended to the loss of life , or health , or the like sufferings , and other times to an actual delivery into the hands of Satan , if we may believe the Tradition of the whole Greek Church , is yet communicated to the Servants of God , b b Vid. Crusii Turco-Graec . apud Dr. Ham. Power of the Keys , ch. 6. sect. 5. p. 147 , 148. who tell us , that no man among them dyes excommunicate , but he swells like a Drum , looks black , and cannot return to his primitive Dust , till he receive his absolution . But whether this be so , or no , we will not at present discuss , while we positively assert , that Prophecie , casting out of Daemons , and prodigious cures , even to the raising the dead , lasted till this age of S. Cyprian , and after .

XXIII . The prophetick Sun , after a long Eclipse that vail'd its face and beauties from the time of the Captivity till the coming of the Messias , broke forth with a greater lustre under the Evangelical Oeconomy . That the immediate Family of Jesus were so endowed no man doubts , since by that afflatus they were assisted in conferring Orders , and leaving a List of their Successors , in fore-telling the times of Antichrist , and the revolutions of the Church , till Peace should mantle it over with her Silver Wings . S. Philip's Daughters were thus acted , says c c Hist. lib. 3. c. 25. Eusebius , and it lasted till the days of d d Dialog. cum Tryphon . p. 308. S. Justin the Martyr , about which time e e Eus. ubi supra . & lib. 5. c. 16. Quadratus , Bishop of Athens , was eminent for this gift , and after him f f Polycrat . apud Eus. l. 5. c. 23. & Hier. Catal. v. Melito . Melito , Bishop of Sardis , and g g Apud Euseb. lib. 5. c. 3. Irenaeus mentions a Revelation made to Attalus concerning Alcibiades . But when Montanus pretended to engross this Donative , and appropriate it to his Conventicle , it became more rare , and was bestowed only on a few persons of extraordinary qualifications , men h h Orig. contra Gels . l. 7. that had attained to a high degree of self-denyal and mortification ; among whom we may reckon i i Greg. Nyssen . tom. 2. p. 976. Phaedimus , Bishop of Amasea , who deputed S. Gregory , the man of Miracles , to his Bishoprick ; and S. Cyprian , to whom the time and manner of his death was revealed in a Vision , the miraculous influences of the holy spirit superintending the actions of those admirable men .

XXIV . But I suppose , that notwithstanding what the elder k k Apud Euseb. lib. 5. c. 16. Apollinaris avers , that this Blessing was to last for ever in the Church , and that S. l l Ubi supr. & cap. 17. Austin says , that it continued to his time , that at farthest on the alteration of the state of Religion from a troubled and disturb'd to a serene and pacate scene of Affairs under Constantine , this inspiration was seldom , if ever , conferred on any man ; for as to that Prophecy of S. Athanasius , concerning Julian , ( Nebecula est & pertransibit , that the Cloud would suddenly blow over ) and many others of antient and later times , they are only the sage conjectures of an observing and prudent Experimenter , who having read , how the world hath been heretofore managed , and in his own time remarked the revolutions of Affairs , draws Conclusions strongly probable , what will succeed from the same or the like premisses . And it is observable , that in such predictions , as in the old Oracles , what hath fallen out right , hath had the good luck to be Chronicled , when a thousand other such Essays , that have not answer'd expectation , have been buried in Oblivion . So that Tully , in his Epistles ad Atticum , fore-telling the Miseries of the Civil War , may on the same grounds be styled a Prophet ; and if such productions of a discreet and well-practis'd observer , must presently commence Oracle , this were giving up the Cause to the Church of Rome , who , to this day , plead a right to this dispensation , ( and in truth to every bold Enthusiast , and pretender to Revelation ) but the Church of Rome may not boast of her Prophecies , since their authoriz'd Saints contradict each other in the account of their Visions ; S. Bridget pretending a particular Revelation , that the Virgin Mary was conceived in Original sin , S. Katherine of Siena , pleading Revelation to the contrary ; but were Prophecy yet continued to the Church , it is no unquestionable Authority to broach new Doctrines , a a Vide Theodoret. in loc. Deut. 13.1 , 2. and S. b b Contr. Faust . Manichae . lib. 4. c. 2. Austin's Character of the Patriarchs is the best way of judging concerning this excellent endowment , That a life , according to the Laws of the Prophets , is preferrable to a Tongue , tip'd with such Seraphick Discourses . Illorum hominum non tantum lingua , sed & vita prophetica fuit . c c Chrys. To. 2. hom. 24. in Matth. p. 172. For Pharaoh had his Dreams , Nebuchadnezzar his Visions , and Balaam his Spirit of Prophecy , while these Communications from Heaven were so far from alleviating , that they aggravated both their Crimes and Torments .

XXV . To dispossess Satan was the design of the Son of God , and when he had conquered the main Body , he left the subduing the dispers'd and routed Troops to his Followers , who got signal Victories over the baffled and affronted powers of the Kingdom of Darkness , and erected their Trophies over Satan , not only in the days of d d Apol. 1. & Dial. cum Tryph. p. 247. Justin Martyr , and e e Lib. 2. c. 56 , 57. Irenaeus , of f f Apol. c. 23. &c. 37. & ad Scapul . c. 3. Tertullian , and g g Octav. p. 90 , 92. Minut. Foelix , but in the days of h h Contr. Cels . l. 2. Origen , i i Nyss. to. 2. p. 998 , 999. Gregory Thaumaturgus , k k Ep. 2. p. 6. S. Cyprian , and l l Lib. 2. cap. 16. Lactantius , those unclean guests being driven out of their Habitations by the Prayers of the devout Exorcist ; and though the Gentiles dreaded being possest , their Daemons equally dreaded the Christians , with whose words they being tormented , as a Malefactor is with a Whip , did not only confess themselves to be evil Spirits , but gave an account of their names ; and for such Cures were the Servants of Jesus sought unto , even by their Enemies and Persecutors . So M. Aurelius Antoninus courted Abercius , the Bishop of Hierapolis , to dispossess his Daughter Lucilla , who had been betroathed to Lucius Verus , his Collegue in the Empire , and the holy man undertook and accomplish'd it . And though the truth of that story be by some doubted , yet it seems to me to carry with it its own credentials , and a a To. 2. an. 163. p. 15 0/1. Baronius hath fully evinc'd it .

XXVI . But I suppose , that as soon as the great Enemy of Christianitie's Interests so sensibly decayed , as they did under Constantine , when his Oracles ceas'd , and his Temples were defac'd ; when he was no longer fed with the steams of slain Beasts , and the fumes of Incense ; then also this power ceas'd in the Church of God ( though b b De Civit. D. l. 22. c. 8. S. Austin avers that it continued till his time ; ) 'T is true , the term Exorcist continued , and had a place in after Ages among the names of the Church-Officers , but then it was only aequivalent to Catecheist , ( the ancient Exorcists both instructing the Catechumens , and superintending the Daemoniacs ) which being an employment that the Church could not want , succeeded to the whole title on the expiring of that miraculous power ; for to believe that the present charms of the Romanists succeed to the practices of the Ancients , I must first be induced to credit their Legends , and believe , that an Amulet shall keep me shot-free , or cure a Fever . But such Tricks find a livelihood for their wandring and irregular Priests , and that gives them some credit , but neither is this such a great mark of God's favour , or a true Church , if it were yet continued ; for c c Chrys. ubi supr. p. 171. Judas had power given him to cast out Devils , and yet himself was one .

XXVII . That the anointing the desperately sick with Oyle was also a specia● influence of the holy Spirit , is uncontroleably asserted in that story of the Emperour d d Tert. ad Scapul . cap. 4. Septimius Severus , so cured by Proculus , a Christian , and of the Daemoniac e e Aug. ubi supr. Virgin at Hippo● rescued by the application of Oyl , given her by a Presbyter of that Church , with which he had mingled his Tears ; to omit other instances . But in nothing were the Religious so famous , as in raising the dead ; few , or none of their Heathen Adversaries taking on them the confidence to pretend to this power . Thus S. Irenaeus f f Lib. 2. c. 57. & apud Euseb. l. 5. c. 7. says , that in his time the dead were raised to life , so as they continued many years afterwards on Earth , and he gives a particular instance of a man so raised by the Prayers and Fastings of the Church , and challenges the Hereticks , as we do the Heathen , to shew any such Example among the men of their perswasion . Another instance a a De anim . p. 262. F. ed. Rhen. Tertullian gives , and at the Council of Nice was present James , the Bishop of Antioch , in Mygdonia , ( Nisibis the Syrians call it ) b b Theodor. Eccl. hist. lib. 1. c. 7. who had more than once made this experiment , and given life to the dead : and after him c c Fortun. in vit. S. Hillary of Poictiers , and d d Sulpit. Sever. in vit. Martin . S. Martin , are said to have done the like , and perhaps some others .

XXVIII . And about this Age I conjecture that this prodigious virtue left off assisting the Church ; for I shall never have that comprehensive credence , to believe all the strange stories of the like nature that e e Orthodox . fid. controv. 4. Scribanius tells of the blessed Virgin at Sherpen-heavel , and Hall . Nor is it impossible , but that a man may rescue his Neighbour from the bands of the Graye , Gennad . de dogmat . Eccles. capp . 83 , & 84. prodigia , & sanitates etiam peccatores in nomine Domini facere ab ipso Deo didicimus , & cum alios h●c praesumptione juvent , sibi per ambitionem human●e gloriae nocent . — signis & prodigiis clarum posse fieri Christianum , non tamen sanctum , si intemperatis , & asperis moribus agat : temperatis autem , & placidis moribus etiam absque signorum efficaciâ & sanctum , & perfectum , & Dei hominem recbe sier , credimus . who is himself dead in sins and trespasses : And this the Fathers well understood , when they allowed that such preternatural effects were producible by Magick , not denying but that in several places such Prodigies had fallen out among the Heathen , in the names of their Idols , as is expresly acknowledged by f f legat . p. 28. S. Athenagoras ; and Vespasian's cure of the blind man , with other such Efforts , to omit the several stupendous specimina of the skill of Apollonius , are undeniable instances of this , unless we question the truth of all History ; though in truth , what the noble Historian g g Lib. 16. par. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. Polybius avers of such productions , is in general an unquestionable assertion , that the greatest part of such Miracles were the Off-spring of some crafty Fellows , men of profligate souls and irrational minds , and were invented 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to inhance , and promote the Superstitions of the Vulgus . So does he character the times before the holy Jesus appeared in the world , and for what was done afterward , h h Apud Euseb. de praeparat . Evangel. l. 1. c. 1. Porphyry gives us a reason , that since the true God came among men to oblige them , and to do them good , none of their false Gods had exerted their powers , or conferred their kindnesses , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 .

XXIX . That is , the Demons did not so publickly and frequently appear as heretofore ; for they did not wholly desist , but in Porphyry's time made some attempts to rescue Paganism from scorn : for this both Porphyry objects , and S. Hierome grants ; for when that bitter Enemy of Christianity had averr'd , a a Apud Hieron . in Psalm . 81. tom. 8. p. 76. B. that the Apostles were a sort of rustick and mean persons , and that their necessities forc'd them to the study of Magick , whereby they insinuated themselves into the affections of the more wealthy Females , whom they seduc'd ; and that they did no more than the Magicians of Egypt did in opposition to Moses , and Apollonius and Apuleius had done since ; the Father answers by granting the Assertion , but denys that ever they confirm'd their Miracles by their Martyrdoms , but that the Apostles were crucified for the testimony of their crucified Master , and that their blood is a confirmation of our Faith . Non Martyres Evan. gelium faciunt , sed per Evangelium Martyres fiunt . Cypr. Epist. 22. p. 30. a. Which way of proof I cannot but dislike , for neither is this a full demonstration of the truth either of Faith or Miracles , for a man may give his body to be burnt , and yet want charity , 1 Cor. 13.3 . and not only Peregrinus of old voluntarily dyed for his Opinions , but in the Age immediately preceeding , Vaninus , who thought to have made Proselytes to the old Heathen Rites , was a Martyr to Paganism , and gloried , that he would dye like a Philosopher .

XXX . That therefore we may the better understand the state of this question , we shall close the digression with these Consectaries .

1. That Miracles though necessary in the Churches infancy , are not so now . Then the resurrection of Jesus was an undeniable demonstration of his Godhead , and to confirm the Apostles testimony of that resurrection , they produc'd their own prodigious atchievements , for to get belief among the Gentiles , the holy man had need to bring his credentials with him from Heaven ( nor do I doubt , if the Gospel were now to be preach'd where it had never been rejected , but if there were need , God would set his seal to it by signs from Heaven ) but when the greatest part of the world hath already been bless'd with the beams of the Sun of righteousness , b b Aug. de Civit. Dei l. 22. c. 8. Quisquis adhuc prodigia requirit , He that still wants a miracle to convince him , is himself the greatest prodigy of the age .

XXXI . 2. That those extraordinary powers were not conferred on all persons in the Church , nor at all times ; on some good men not a drop of this heavenly dew descended , on others it came down in a gentle and still showre , but a third sort were drench'd by it . And when the holy Ghost gave its largesses , it dispers'd them , fitting one holy man to raise the dead , another to speak with tongues , a third to cast out Devils , 1 Cor. 12.29 . but few men enjoyed all these Charismata , nor were the Apostles always invested with this actual power , but when it was necessary to make a convert . Else I suppose S. Paul , Acts 19.12 . who cured the desperately sick at a distance , would not have suffer'd Epaphroditus to languish so long at Rome , nor left Trophinius at Miletum under a sore distemper , when his company and assistance was so necessary to the Apostle ; nor would he have advised Timothy to drink wine for his stomachs sake , had he always been indowed with this speedier way of baffling a disease .

XXXII . 3. That Miracles are not a sign of the true Church , as the Romanists boast , Athenagoras grants , that the Magicians of his time by virtue of their idols produc'd such strange effects , and S. Chrysostome says , that the Hereticks of his time frequently did the like ; how consident soever therefore the brags of the Romanists may be , that their ridiculous and impossible Miracles are a mark of their Orthodoxy , it makes no impression on me ; though were it so , the cure of the King's-Evil by our Prince is a more authentick , and truer Miracle to vindicate the Protestant Doctrine , than all that they can produce in confirmation of their novelties . Nor is there need of such sort of proof now , a a Chrys. to . 5. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 605. the holy spirit in these days manifesting it self in an ordinary way , not as formerly by raising the dead , and cleansing the lepers , but by conferring Grace in the Sacraments .

XXXIII . 4. That a holy life is a more becoming accomplishment , than ability to work Miracles , Mat. 7.22 , 23. To prophesie , to cast out Devils , and do wonders is an admirable and sublime ornament says b b D●unita 〈◊〉 Eccles. p. 152. S. Cyprian , but he that possesses all these excellencres , if his life ●o not holy , and just , must notwithstanding fail into Hell . When therefore men are bid , says c c Tom. 5. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 278. & vid. p. 277. S. Chrysostome , to imitate S. Peter , or S. Paul , to be followers of S. James , or S. John , let them not retort , We cannot , it is beyond our sphere to raise the dead , to cleanse the lepers ; s●ifle that shameless Apology ; Miracles give not a title to Heaven , but a holy life , imitate therefore their pious conversation , and thou art not beneath the Apostles . For Miracles make not an Apostle , but Sanctity doth . And this is demonstrated by that of our Saviour , John 13.35 . who characterizing the virtue of a Desciple , says , In this shall men know , that you are my disciples : in this ; in what ? that ye can work Miracles , that ye can raise the dead ? No. But in this , that ye love one another . Now love is not reducible to Miracles , but to holy conversation , for love is the fulfilling of the law . And thus you see the picture of a Disciple , and an Apostle . — And with this Remarque we end this digression .

XXXIV . I have no more in the life of this Father to animadvert , but 〈…〉 whereas Mr. H. p. 313. out of Nice 〈◊〉 , as he out of Procopius , mentions 〈…〉 Church erected to his memory . d d 〈…〉 . Victor the Bishop of Vtica , who lived near the place , tells us of two very splendid and 〈◊〉 Temples erected to his name , one at the place called Sexti , where he was beheaded , ( which whether it were so called because Sextus his field , or 6 miles from Carthage , I dispute not ) the other in the Mappalian way , where he was buried ; the first being intitled e e Serm. 113. de divers . Mensa Cypriani , says S. Austin , not because he did eat there , as that Father judges , but because there he was Martyred ; the last called Sepulchrum Cypriani , used by the Vandals , as a place of meeting for the Arians , when they had razed the other Church , till under Justinian it was restored to the Catholicks .

XXXV . a a Homil. 72. & 73. inter Ambros . & p. 235. Ed. Raynaud . His Martyrdome happened about the time of Vintage , says S. Maximus of Turin more than once ; the Festival dedicated to his memory , which b b Ep. 120. cap. 5. S. Austin calls the Solemnity of the most blessed Cyprian , was stiled Cyprianaea . The Heathens despitefully term'd him c c Lactant. lib. 5. c. 1. Copreanus , and Capreanus ( as the Arians nick-nam'd the great Patriarch of Alexandria , Sathanasius ) but the Christians thought so well of him , as to give his name to their children , of which name we find one a Martyr at Nicomedia under Dioclesian , whom Nazianz. &c. confound with this Bishop of Carthage , another a Bishop in Africa martyred in the Vandalick persecution under Hunnerick , to omit many more .

XXXVI . The Fathers also give him a most honorable character , he is d d Tom. 3. p. 822. a holy man in S. Chrysostome , a most pious and eloquent martyr , in e e In Isai . 60. S. Hierome , an incomparable man , and of most excellent , and transcendent accomplishments , in f f De bapt. cont . Donat. l. 6. c. 2. S. Austin : the name of Cyprian is venerable among all persons , and that not only among the lovers of Jesus , but his enemies too , says g g Tom. 1. orat . 18. p. 84. S. Gregory Nazianzen : h h Apud eund. p. 276. admirable was his humility , and his elo quence prodigious , in which he exceeded other men , as much as men do beasts , for he presided not only over the Churches of Carthage and Africk , but his Bishoprick extended over the Western part of the World , and the Oriental Churches were a part of his Diocess , the North , and South , and where-ever his wonders had been heard of , and his name spread , were under his inspection . i i Pont. Diac . in fin . pass. Cypr. For he was the man , whom the Christians by way of eminency called their Bishop , or Pope ; Quem Christiani suum Papam vocant . To his Memory we have an Hymn in Prudentius , an Oration in Nazianzen , one Homily in Chrysologus , four in Austin , one in Fulgentius , and two in S. Maximus . Among all which , having once thoughts to insert that excellent Panegyrick of S. Gregory the Divine , I have omitted those resolutions , because his Discourse is so perplext , and in a great part applyed to a wrong person , and have annext that of his great admirer S. Austin .

S. Austin's Homily on the Holy Martyr Cyprian .

‛ SO acceptable and religious a Solemnity , in which we celebrate the passion of a blest Martyr , commands this discourse from us , as a Tribute due to your ears and hearts . Without question the Church was at that time melancholy , and clad in sables , not so much for his loss that was dying , as out of a desire that they might not be robb'd of him , being always willing to enjoy the society and presence of so pious an Instructer , so good a Prelate . But those , whom the sollicitude of his Encounter afflicted , were re-inspirited with comfort , by the Crowns and Triumphs of his Victory ; and now not only without any sorrow , but with the most profuse joy do we read and reflect on those Transactions , and it is conceded to us to exult , not to fear in that day . For we do not fear that day that came with terrour , but expect the return of it with a serene chearfulness . It is pleasing therefore with gladness to remember the Sufferings of that most faithful , couragious , and glorious Martyr , now the passion is past , for which then the Brethren were so concern'd when it was future . First of all therefore , when he was banished to Curubis for his Confession of the Faith of Christ , there was no injury done to the holy Cyprian , but much good to that City . For whither could he be sent where that Saviour was not , for whose Testimony he was an Exile ? Christ therefore , who said , Behold I am with you always even to the end of the World , took care to preserve that Member of his in all places , whithersoever the Fury of the Enemy did drive him . O the foolish Infidelity of his Persecutor ! if thou would'st find out a place where to confine a Christian , first find out , if thou canst , a place whence Christ hath been driven ; dost thou think thou canst force the man of God from his Country into a strange Land , who being in Christ cannot be exil'd ; and while he is in the flesh is always a stranger ? But now after what Cyprian did not think , but his Enemies imagined to be his Banishment , it is pleasant to remember and consider what followed that his Exile , relating to his Martyrdom . For when Cyprian , chosen by God , a holy Martyr , return'd from the City of Curubis , whither he had been banish'd by the Edict of Aspasius Paternus , the Proconsul , he took up his residence in his own Gardens ; and thence every day hoped and expected that it would befall him , according as the Vision instructed him . To what purpose now doth the rage of the Persecutor express its self against a Soul always prepar'd , and especially while it was confirm'd by a Revelation from Heaven ? How could God desert him in his Sufferings , who would not suffer him to be surpriz'd in his ignorance ? in that therefore two were sent unto him to introduce him to his passion , who took him up into their Chariot , and set him between them , this also was an Admonition from above , that with joy he might recollect , that he belonged to the Body of that Saviour , who was numbred among the Transgressors ; For Christ being Crucifyed between two Thieves , was exposed an Example of patience ; and Cyprian being carryed in the Chariot to his passion , between two Officers , did walk in the steps of his Master . What an Eulogy does he deserve , or rather what praises can be adequate to his merit , who when he was kept till the next day in the custody of his Guard , and the whole multitude of Christians were gathered together with Resolutions to watch all night at the Door , commanded the Virgins to be circumspectly look'd to ? though his Body were in the Suburbs of the Grave , yet a Pastoral Vigilance was lively and vigorous in the Soul of this Bishop , who was wholly taken up with a studious care and diligence to defend and preserve the Lord's flock to his last moment . The hand of the cruel Executioner , that just hung over his head , did neither shake the Courage , nor supersede the Industry of this most faithful Steward ; he so thought upon his being a Martyr for the future , that he forgot not his being a Bishop for the present ; being infinitely more concern'd what account he should render to the Prince of Bishops , of the flock committed to his inspection , than what he should answer the Infidel Proconsul concerning his own faith ; for he loved him that said unto Peter , Lovest thou me ? Feed my Sheep . Nor did he omit to feed those Sheep , for whom , even now , he made haste , in imitation of him , to shed his Blood . He commanded the Virgins to be cautiously guarded , knowing , that he had not only a sincere Master , but a cunnning and false Adversary . In his Confession , therefore , he arms the manly breast against the roaring Lyon , and shelters the female Sex against the Wolf that lies in wait to devour the flock : So that man truly consults his own Interest , who is still meditating on God as his Judge , before whom every one shall give an account of the managery of his life , and discharge of the duty enjoyned him , when every man shall receive , as testifies the Apostle , according to what he hath done in his body , whether good or evil . So he is his own best friend , who living by Faith , and hastening that he may not be surpriz'd by the last day , doth reckon every day his last , and so perseveres in doing what is pleasing in the eyes of God , till the hour of his dissolution . So the blessed Cyprian , that most compassionate Prelate , that most faithful Martyr advised himself to do ; and not as the subtile Tongue of the Devil in the mouth of the wicked Judge admonish'd him , saying , Consult thy own safety . For when the Proconsul saw his firm and unshaken resolution , when he said unto him , the Emperors command thee to perform the accustomed ceremonies to the Gods and he answered I cannot do it : he subjoyn'd , Consult thy own safety : That is the fly and insinuating Tongue of the Devil , and though not of him that understood not what he said , yet of him that spake in the mouth of the Proconsul . For the Governour spake not so much according to the mind of the Emperours , whose commands he boasted , but according to the injunctions of the Prince of the power of the Air , of whom the Apostle says , that he works in the Children of Disobedience . Whom Cyprian knew to work by the Tongue of the Proconsul , though he himself was ignorant of it . Cyprian , I say , knew when he heard him advising him to take care of his safety , that what flesh and blood spoke foolishly , that Satan spoke craftily , and in the same body he beheld two persons , one with his eyes , another with his faith . The one was unwilling he should dye , the other , that he should be crown'd with Martyrdom ; at length arm'd with meekness towards the one , and caution towards the other , he openly answers the Proconsul , and in secret overcomes Satan . Execute , says he , what thou art commanded ; in so just an Affair there needs no Consultation . For the Proconsul had said , Consult thy own safety ; to which he answer'd , in so just a matter there is no need of Consultation . For he consuits , that either gives or asks Counsel ; but the Proconsul was not willing to take advice from Cyprian , rather he admonish'd him to follow his Judgment ; but the wise Prelate retorts , in so just a thing there needs no deliberation . I ask no Counsel , because I am under no doubts ; Justice it self hath delivered me from all hesitation and suspence . For the just man lives assuredly by his faith , that he may dye securely in the Flesh . Many Martyrs were Harbingers and Fore-runners of the blest Cyprian , whom he had enflam'd to the conquest of Satan by many warm and passionate Exhortations ; and it was but just , that he should undauntedly follow those by his sufferings , whom by such pathetical Incentives he had sent before to Martyrdom . Therefore , in so just an Affair there needs no Consultation . What then shall we say to these things , and by what Exultations shall we express our joys ? Into what form of words shall our hearts and mouths break forth , but into the last Speeches of that venerable Martyr ? For when Galerius Maximus read his Sentence out of a Table-book , I determine that Thascius Cyprianus be beheaded , the good man answers , I heartily thank God . Let us therefore , being encourag'd in so momentous an Affair by the memory of this present place , by the Solemnity of this Festival , by the takingness of so perswasive an example , from the bottom of our Souls , say also , The Lord be praised .

THE LIFE OF Lactantius .

I. IT is no small part of the Churches unhappiness , that we have such scant notices of the lives of its Antient Worthies , of many of whom we have only their names , of many others no more particular account , than what S. Hierome's Catalogue of illustrious men affords us , in which we have a Breviate of the Life of Lactantius , but neither the time , nor place of his Birth , nor Death , though without out him we should hardly know more , than that there was such an Advocate for the Christian Faith . For his Country I am altogether of Mr. H.'s Opinion , that he was an Italian , whatever Baronius and Possevine opine to the contrary , and that his Name ought to be as much celebrated , as his Country . Of him p. 319. we are told , that he wrote his excellent Books of Institutions against the Gentiles in opposition to the calumnies of two great enemies of Christianity , whom according to Baronius he makes to be Porphyry , and Hierocles ; that Porphyry could not be the first , whatever that admirable Annalist does assert , I am very sure from the character , that a a Instit. l. 5. c. 2. Lactantius gives of him , that he under the pretence and vizard of Philosophy , did indulge himself the satisfaction of every passion , that he was intolerably covetous , and intemperate , and so extravagant in his course of life , that he , who in the Schools was the great applauder of frugality , and poverty , when he left them , was yet better pleased to sup at the Palace , than his own house ; which will not agree to the wonderfully modest , retired , severe , and contemplative life of that b b Eunap . in vit. Porphyr . & Luc. Holsten . de vit. & script . Porphyr . cap. 6. Philosopher , who shunned conversation , and gave himself up to Melancholy and Abstinences , till he was just starved ; nor yet comport with the doctrine of his Book , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; and whereas c c Catalog . illustr. viror . S. Hierome reckons Methodius , Eusebius , and Apollinaris as the defenders of the Christian verities against Porphyry , he never says a word of Lactantius , which I suppose he would have done , had Porphyry been the person against whom this Father writ .

II. That the Nicomedian Judge was Hierocles , I am over and above perswaded , a man famous and eminent both for his parts , and employment . He was the a a Lactant. ubi supr. Author of raising the persecution at Nicomedia against the Christians , ( and I suppose it was by this industry , and acumen , his zeal for paganism , and brisk opposition of whatever was called Christian , that he endeared himself to Dioclesian ) and not content with that , he also employs his pen against those , whom he persecuted , with much seeming modesty , and love to truth ; for as the old sages called themselves 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( Wise men ) but their followers less confident took the name of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( Lovers of Wisdome ) so whereas Celsus , Origen's enemy , had stiled his work 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Hierocles gave his the inscription of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . And indeed out of Celsus , and Porphyry , he borrowed not only his Arguments and Reasonings , but his very words and forms of Speech , as Eusebius expresly testifies , who took on him to answer and overcome this aggressor ; though he is mistaken in affirming , that Hierocles writ only one Book ; for Lactantius expresly mentions two , in which b b Ubi supr. c. 3. he introduces that Philosopher describing our Saviour as a man , who being banish'd by the Jews , gathered an Army of nine hundred bandito's , and turned publick thief ; and then argues , Who is so lost to reason , as to worship him for a God , who was crucified for his villanies ? to which Lactantius answers , that were it so , such methods of adoration were sutable to the practices of their Religion , which hath deified Mars , who , had he had his deserts , ought to have been condemn'd by the Areopagus to be crucified . Afterwards he brings him in comparing Apollonius with Christ , and opposing him as an Anti-Christ to the Son of God , that that Magician did as great , or greater Miracles , than our Saviour , such as were attested , says c c Fragm. p. 266. Ed. Lond. Hierocles , not by such impostors as Peter and Paul , men of no learning , or credit , but by men of great parts , and severe veracity , such as were Maximus Aegiensis , and Damis the Philosopher , and Philostratus of Athens . But Eusebius , and this Father have for ever silenc'd that objection , and so I shall leave it , and its Author , when I have told my reader , that in the primitive saecula the men of the long robe were the ablest , and most virulent enemies of the name of Jesus . Domitius Vlpianus , d d Martyrol . Rom. Jan. 1. Mart. 2. Aug. 23. &c. not being content to have had a hand in the Martyrdome of Quirianus Bishop of Ostium , and many other servants of God , in his seventh Book De officio Proconsulis ( which is now lost , only some fragments of it are preserv'd ) collected all the Reasons of former Princes against the Christians , that their Successors might have precedents , how to proceed on any new occasion , and that what they did might seem to be the product not of fury , but of law , and the dictates of equity , so true is that of a a De Pallio . c. 5. Tertullian , Plus togae laesere remp . ( Christianam ) quàm loricae .

III. To the right understanding of his unorthodox expressions a little charity will greatly conduce . That God the father made himself , is no more ( but more ruggedly worded ) than that he hath his being of himself ( and Solecisms of expression never constitute a Heresie ) and where he seems to deny the Divinity of our Saviour , his Books , says Thomasius , have been corrupted by the Arians , and Mr. H. allows it . And we know that the Fathers of the three first Centuries are not so express in their accounts of the Divinity , or satisfaction of our bless'd Master , and yet I should be very loth to give them all away to the second family of Arius , the Socinians , as b b Not. in Epiphan. Haeres. 69. Petavius very rashly and unworthily hath done , as if their sentiments in those Articles differed from the rule of faith . And this also will defend him from the censures of S. Hierome , for not speaking so clearly of the Divinity of the Holy-Ghost ; the Antients having not been so careful to assert the Divinity of the Son , till that Article was denied by Arius , nor of the Holy-Ghost , till the Heresie of Macedonius did lift up its head ; and this Method is agreeable to that memorable and worthy passage in c c Tom. 2. Apolog. adv. Ruffin . lib. 2. p. 223. Ed. Eras . S. Hierome , If I am ignorant of the reason why the Fathers erred , I do not presently call them Hereticks ; for perchance they erred with very simple , and honest intentions , or had the ill luck to express themselves unhappily , and in words that might be misconstrued , or their Writings have been wronged in transcribing , or they spake not so cautiously , as they would , had they lived after some Heresies sprung up in the Church , as some of the Fathers did of our Saviour , before the rise of that Southern Devil ( or Daemon , that walks at noon-day ) at Alexandria .

IV. The reason of our Masters retiring into Galilee after his resurrection was probably on the account of his Disciples , who were of that Country , and were commanded thither to retire , when the feast should be over , that being a place more remote from Jerusalem , and consequently more secure for them . But that our Saviour would not appear any more publickly among the Jews might be a just judgment on them , who had resisted the holy spirit , and continued unconverted under so many methods of Grace , God resolving to fulfill his prediction , that the day should come , when they should ( in vain ) say , Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord . And this I believe to be Lactantius his meaning . And for his silence of Christ's Priestly Office , and dying for our sins , it is not so palpable , as the Centurists , and Mr. H. make it , witness that one place , a a Lib. 4. c. 20. vid. lib. ●jus . c. 18. &c. 19. Novum ( Testamentum ) veteris adimpletio est , & in utroque idem testator est Christus , qui , pro nobis morte susceptâ , nos haeredes regni aeterni fecit .

V. Where the Father affirms , that the power of the earth was given to Satan from the beginning , certainly he means not from the beginning of the creation , but from the fall of man , when by Adam's transgression his posterity by nature be came frvants unto Satan . The Angels falling in love with the daughters of men hath been spoken to before ; but if we may be allowed to deduce an opinion from a broken sentence , his great error about the Angels seems to be , that he makes them co-eternal with God ; for when the Objection is made , What company God had before the creation ? b b Lib. 1. c. 7. he answers , that the Angels were with him , habet ministros , quos vocamus nuntios , which is no solution , unless they were with him from eternity ; although this he presently after contradicts out of Seneca , when he says , Genuisse regni sui Ministros Deum , that God created the Angels to be his servants , and that also unhappily express'd by genuisse for creâsse .

VI. The preexistence of the Soul , is an opinion generally entertain'd by the old Philosophers of the School of Plato , and Pythagoras , who had it from the Chaldee , and Aegyptian Sages . Nor does it but look very plausibly , when we consider , that it is the clearest , if not the only way of solving that dilemma . If the Soul of man be ex traduce , and result out of matter , where is its natural immortality , and how can all mankind have more than one soul , and how can that Soul be divisible ? and if it be created in the instant of generation , and then infused , how stands it with Gods justice to force it into a body , and there to infect it with original sin ? whereas if we allow Souls a time of probation above , before they descend on earth , they shall be immortal , because God made them so , and confined to a body , because in their purer state they sinned , and deserved this punishment , but this I propose only problematically without asserting any thing .

VII . Lactantius is , and worthily , ready to encourage the practice of piety , and doing good works ; but that he speaks nothing of the righteousness of faith , as Mr. H. p. 334. objects , I cannot believe ; for in his c c Epit. divin . Instit. cap. 8. Epitome he thus expresses himself , Fides quoque magna justitiae pars est , quae maximè à nobis , qui nomen fidei gerimus , conservanda est , praecipuè in religione , quia deus , prior , & potentior est , quàm homo , and again d d Instit. divin . lib. 5. cap. 13. semper multò firmior fides est , quam reponit poenitentia , and by these two do men make satisfaction to God , and are justified . And again a a Lib. 4. c. 19. Nulla igitur alia spes est consequendae immortalitatis , nisi crediderint in eum , that no man can be saved without faith in Christ .

The word merit signifies in the writings of the Fathers any good work , which is acceptable to God , and b b De grat . & lib. arb. l. 1. c. 14. Bellarmine himself confesses it . And Mereri in Classick Authors , signifies no more than Consequi , to incur , procure , or attain ; as Agricola is said by Tacitus , on the account of his excellent Virtues , iram c c Vit. Agric . p. 656. Ed. 1619. Caii Caesaris meritus , to incur the anger of Caesar ; and d d Contr. Liter . Petil . lib. 3. c. 6. S. Austin says of himself , that instead of thanks from the Donatists for his kindness to them , flammas meruimus odiorum , He procured their hatred . But this the most reverend e e Answ. to Jes . sect. of merit . p. 553. Primate hath told Mr. H. long since : And here I must again beg leave to admire our Authors want of consideration , in assigning this Father's ninth Errour in words so wholly different from his meaning , who throughout the whole twelfth Chapter of the sixth Book of his Institutions , having passionately recommended the acts of Mercy , and shutting up his discourse thus , ( That Gods way of hearing prayers is , If thou shalt hearken to the Petition of thy poor begging Brother , I also will hear thee ; if thou shalt compassionate him , I also will have pity on thee ; but if thou shuttest up thy Bowels of Mercy , and neither regardest nor helpest him , I will deal with and judge thee according to thy own Methods ) begins his thirteenth Chapter with these words , Quoties igitur rogaris , tentari te à Deo crede , an sis dignus exaudiri , which Mr. H. against all rules of Grammar , thus renders , As often as a man asks , he is to believe that he is tempted of God , whether he be worthy to be heard . Which is so far from being an erroneous Assertion , that it wants sense , which will be perspicuous , genuine , and coherent , if we English it , as we ought , thus , As often as thou art petitioned ( i. by thy poor Brother , ) believe that God tryeth thee , whether thou be worthy to be heard by him , when thou prayest ; it being the divine custom , as he said before , to hear only those that hearken to and compassionate the indigent .

IX . For his next Assertion , that God pardons his Servants who sin ignorantly , I look upon it to be very Orthodox , and agreeable to S. Paul ; who , though in the whole seventh Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans , he had described the good man as one that with his flesh did serve the Law of Sin , but with his mind the Law of God , beginneth the eighth Chapter with this comfortable Assertion , There is now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus ; i. such sins of ignorance and imperfection shall not damn them , if they walk not after the flesh , but after the spirit ; when he both affirms and denies , that a man may be without sin , he argues like S. Paul , Phil. 3. where v. 12. he denies himself to be perfect , and v. 15. affirms it ; but in divers senses . So when Lactantius affirms , that a man may live pure from all pollutions , he argues , ab impossibili , which is an usual Topick , but his true judgment he gives afterwards , quod nemo esse sine delicto potest , that no man can live without sinning , as long as he is on this side the Grave , — The superstition of the Cross hath been already fully invalidated ; the unlawfulness of making War was an Errour , but herein he followed Origen among the Ancients , and Erasmus , and other famous men of late have wedded the same Opinion ; his Doctrine of the Antipodes may be called a Heresie in Philosophy , but by no means in Divinity ; and it was the ancient belief , that the Souls of all men were detain'd in one common Prison , which Opinion hath been already considered .

X. His discourse of the great Prophet , who shall convert the Nations before the end of the World , is somewhat strange , and perhaps an intimation to us , what mazes of their own making men wander in , when they undertake to reveal what is hidden , and unriddle the Apocalypse , out of which the Millenary Doctrine had its rise . After this Prophet's appearance , shall be the day of retribution , in which not all , says Mr. H. p. 333. out of Lactantius , shall be judged , ( The Wicked being condemned already ) but only those who know God . Which I would willingly see reconciled with that passage of his , a a Lact. Instit. lib. 7. c. 26. Eodem tempore fiet secunda illa &c. at the same time shall be the second and publick Resurrection of all persons , in which the wicked shall be raised to live for ever in eternal torments ; such are they who have worship'd Idols , and despised and renounc'd the Lord of the World . For as to what Mr. H. avers to be Lactantius his Opinion , I cannot find it either in the fourteenth Chapter of his seventh Book , to which the Margin directs , nor yet in the 24th , as I think it should be printed ; ( and here I must again take leave to admire Mr. H's faculty of translating in these words , Quos autem plenè justitia , & maturitas virtutis incoxerit , ignem illum non sentient , which he thus renders , Those , whom Righteousness and Maturity of Virtue shall have fully concocted , shall not feel that Fire . Which words , as they lye , he that can make sense of , shall be my Oracle ) but in the 21 chap. of that Book , I find some words to that purpose , not that the Wicked shall not be judged , but shall not rise again ; i. as I think , not in that solemn manner , as the just shall , but immediately on the sound of the Trumpet shall be thrown into Hell .

XI . Nor is it improbable , but that this Father hath been impeach'd of some other Errours , which Mr. H. hath not mentioned . Ruffinus lays to his Charge and Tertullian's , his Dogma , that the Soul is ex traduce , to which a a Apolog. adv. Ruffin . l. 2. to . 2. p. 217 , 218. S. Hierom answers , that he remem●ers no such passage in him . But he who ●eads that Father , shall find him asserting the contrary Opinion ; for b b De opific. Dei . c. 19. proposing the que●tion , Whether the Soul owe its being to the Fa●her , or Mother , or both , he answers it , That Souls have their being neither from one , or both ●he Parents , but that God alone gives them Essence ; serendarum animarum ratio uni , ac soli Deo subjacet ; the learned c c Of Credulity and Incredulity in things natural and civil . part 1. p. 181. Dr. Casaubon , ●eckons another Errour of his , That it is impossible for a just man to perish in any temporal calamity , as in a Tempest , or War , but that God for his sake , either will preserve the rest , or when all the rest perish , he alone shall be preserved . But this could not be meant by him thetically , but that it generally happens , that God appears to the rescue of his Servants , as he did of Noah and Lot ; for else a great part of Lactantius his design were superseded , who makes the Sufferings of the Martyrs a solemn Testimony of the truth of their Religion ; and with this I conclude , when I have given S. Hierom's Character of him , that he was , vir omnium suo tempore eruditissimus , the best Scholar of his Age , Tutor to the Emperours Son Crispus , but so poor , that many times he wanted necessaries . Which might probably happen to him on the death of his Patron the Prince , with whom he also might fall into disgrace , and on whose death all his dependencies and hopes expired .

THE LIFE OF S. ATHANASIVS .

I. IN the Memoires of the Life of this able and worthy Champion of tha● Faith which was once delivered to th● Saints ( for which a a Passim in histor. l. 2. tom. 11 , 12 , 18. lib. 3. tom. 3 , 12. lib. 7. tom. 2. &c. Philostorgius , the Arian Historian speaks so opprobriously of him ; ) I cannot but pay Mr. H. my thanks for acknowledging , Sect. 1. p. 339 ▪ that the Baptism administred by b b Vid. Sozom. lib 2. c 16. Ruffin . l. 10. c. 14. Phot. cod . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . &c. Athanasius to his play-Fellows was valid , and no● to be reiterated ( as was defined by Alexander , the then Patriarch of Alexandria , and opposed by no other part of the Church ) in contradiction to the peevish Zeal of Becanus and others , who will by no means be perswaded to allow its sufficiency . Nequaquam sit jure pro rato habitus , says c c Loc. 47. quaest. 17. p. 616. Becanus very Magisterially in the case , wherein d d De bapt. contr. Donatist . l. 7. c. 53. S. Austin professes , he will determine nothing , till it be revealed to him from Heaven , having just before asserted , That that Initiatory Sacrament must not be reiterated , wheresoever , or by whomsoever it may have been administred , so it be according to the form of words prescribed in the Gospel . And this I have mentioned to evince the Church of England's practices to be consonant to the primitive usages , which in case of most urgent necessity connives at Baptism administred by a Lay-man or Woman , not but that the fact is irregular in the person that usurps the Priest's priviledges , but that the person baptiz'd shall not be re-baptiz'd , according to that good rule , Quod fieri non debuit , factum valet . So e e De baptismo . Tertullian , Nonne & laici Sacerdotes sumus ? Are not Lay-men Priests ? Where a Priest is not to be had , every man is his own Priest . So also f f Adv. Lucifer . tom. 2. p. 141. S. Hierom , and S. g g Lib. 2. contr. Ep. Parmen. c. 13. Austin , affirming that the Sacrament ought not to be reiterated , though the act be an Usurpation in the Minister ; and for the Greek Church , see h h Tom. 1. Homil. 13. p. 486. S. Basil ; and i i Orat. 40. p. 656. Gregory the Divine affirms , that every man that is a Christian may baptize , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ( so Billius his Interpreter construes the words , but I think that he means it only of the Orthodox-Clergy , in opposition to the Hereticks ) the practice is allowed by the Council of Illiberis , Can. 38. and k k Sive quis alios auth. comment . in Ephes. 4. tom. 5. p. 347. S. Ambrose affirms , that it was the custom of the Primitive Ages , before the number of Converts were multiplyed , that every one might preach , baptize , and interpret Scriptures ; but on the modelling of Churches , those duties were appropriate to particular persons .

II. Of this the Jew in l l Lib. 3. cap. 37. Nicephorus is a famous instance , who being converted in the Desart , was by his Fellow-Travellers made partaker of this Sacrament ; and it is yet practised by the Eastern Church , who in their a a Pag. 118. apud Smyth ubi supr. p. 74. Catechetick Confession , published in the modern Greek for the use of their Laity , thus express themselves , No man shall administer the Sacrament of Baptism , but only a Priest , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but in case of necessity it is allowed , that any Secular person , whether he be a man , or woman may baptize . So b b P. Fagius in Deuter. 10.16 . the Jews allowed a Servant to circumcise , if the Minister of that Office were not at hand , and they were herein encouraged by the example of Zipporah . It is allowed by c c Oxf. Ans. to the mille manus petit . p. 11. marg. Chytraeus , Snepfius , and Heerbrand , for the Lutheran Churches ; and by Zuinglius for the Churches of his perswasion ; and for our holy Mother , her Judgment is well known , and in it she hath been unanswerably vindicated by the profound d d Lib. 5. sect. 62. &c. Hooker , and Mr. e e Course of divin . part 1. l. 1. c. 40. p. 200 , 201. Scrivener , and to them I leave her Enemies , who are rational and perswasible , for their conviction . For f f Hooker ubi supr. Baptism by any man in case of necessity , was the Voice of the whole World heretofore , nor ought in to be reiterated , says our old g g Lindwood Provinc . l. 1. tit. 7. p. 41. Edit. Oxon . Provincial .

III. In his account of the Objections against S. Athanasius , p. 345. he mentions the sending Macarius to forbid Ischyras , or Ischyrion , to administer the holy things , and tells us , that this Ischyras had usurp'd the Office of a Minister ; but how he usurp'd it , we have no Footsteps in this Diatribe ; and this silence was necessary , since that one case for ever secures the peculiar Interests of Bishops in Ordinations . For Coluthus , a Presbyter of Alexandria , was the only person , who gave imposition of hands to this pragmatick ; and this he thought sufficient to authorize him to gather a Church in Mareotis , without any dependance on Athanasius , ( a Crime , says h h Hist. Eccles. lib. 1. c. 20. Socrates , that deserved more than one death ) in whose Province that Country was ; whereupon , by the Authority of the i i Apud Athanas . to . 1. Apolog. 2. p. 781. &c. Council of Alexandria , all the Ordinations of this Presbyter were revised and made void ; on which Ischyras fled to Eusebius of Nicomedia , who promis'd him a Bishoprick , and I believe made it good ; for twelve years after he appeared as a Member of the Council of Sardica , says k k Ubi supr. p. 785. Photius , where he struck in with the Arian Faction . — But it would too severely have upbraided the similar Usurpations of a modern Faction , that affronts the Church and her Discipline , to have told the World so plainly , how such irregular Ordinations were disallowed .

IV. This I believe was concealed purposely , but the account of Arsenius , that he was no more than a Deacon , ignorantly ; for a a Hist. l. 1. c. 30. Theodoret expresly calls him a Bishop of the Meletian Faction ( which Faction call'd themselves , The Church of the Martyrs ) nor did he come voluntarily to Tyre , the day before Athanasius made his Answer , as Mr. H. says ; but if we may believe the b b Theod. ubi supr. l. 1. c. 21. Sozom. l. 2. c. 22. Church-Historians , they will inform us , that after it was publish'd , that Athanasius should be accused of the Murder of Arsenius ; the Divine Providence would not suffer the Impostor longer to lye hid , but it was known that he was alive in some part of Aegypt , in the Province of Thebais , lurking with one Prines , a Monk of that Region , in a Monastery of the Faction ; whither when S. Athanasius sent one of his Deacons to search out the truth , the Monks knowing of his coming , remov'd Arsenius ; but Prines and Elias , another Brother of that Cell , being brought to Alexandria , confest that Arsenius was alive ; and at length the same Providence brought him to Tyre , whither he resolved to go and remark incognito , the managery of that Affair , notwithstanding all the Injunctions of the Arians , who had given him mony to conceal himself : When it happened that the Servants of Archelaus , a man of consular Dignity ( c c Phot. ubi supr. p. 782. who with the Praefect of Phoenicia , and some others of the Faction of Eusebius , were appointed Judges in the case ) understood by the discourse of some persons in a Tavern , that Arsenius lay somewhere hid in a house of the Town ; which Information they speedily carry to their Master , who making a search finds out and secures the man ; he being apprehended denies himself to be Arsenius , till Paulus , the Bishop of Tyre , who before-time knew him intimately , pull'd off the Mask , and discover'd the Cheat. Whereupon being committed to safe custody , notice was given to Athanasius , who being a little time after conven'd before the Council , produc'd Arsenius alive , and pulling aside his Cloak , shew'd both his Arms , demanding of his Accusers , that since two hands were as many as God had given any man , they should shew him the place whence the third was cut off .

V. The account which S. Athanasius gives of the Death of Arius from the Relation of Macarius a Priest , then present at Constantinople , is the same in substance with what the d d Socrat. l. 1. c. 25. Theod. l. 1. c. 14. Sozom. l. 2. c. 28. Church-Historians relate of it , only Socrates tells us , that the good Patriarch of Constantinople shut himself up in the Church , and lay prostrate before the holy Altar , not only the night before Arius was to be re-admitted to the Catholick Communion , but fasted , and wept , and prayed for many nights together , omitting no form of Devotion that might be suitable to that occasion ; but that the most pertinent Collect was this , Grant , O my God , that if the Opinion of Arius must be accounted Orthodox , my Soul may be taken out of the World before the day of disputation ; but if what I believe be the true Faith , let him suffer the punishments which his Impiety merits . — Which acts of Mortification and Devotion were no question doubled the Eve before that fatal day , when God appeared to the vindication of the eternal verity , and that great disturber of Christendom , by an exemplary stroak of the divine Vengeance near the publick Market , which was call'd by the name of the August Emperour Constantine , yielded up the Ghost , the very place becoming infamous on his death , no man approaching it for the ease of nature , but all that past by pointed at it , as the Stage whereon that Villain acted his last ; till a long time after a wealthy and potent Disciple of that Sect , bought the place of the Republick , and built a house there , that the memorable accident might be buryed in the ruines of the Stage , whereon it was acted , but Blasphemy and an ungodly life give the Wretch a miserable immortality .

VI. On the introducing of a a Epiph. haer . 69. Socrat. l. 2. c. 6.7.8 . Sozom. l. 3. c. 5 , 6. Phot. cod . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 773. & cod . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 784. Gregory into the Throne of S. Athanasius , ( when Eusebius Emesenus had refused the honour , being offered him by the Synod of Antioch ) the people of Alexandria were so incens'd , that they burnt the Temple of Dionysius down to the ground ; him his Patrons the Arians finding slow and negligent in propagating their Heresie , and hated by the people , six years after his instalment deposed in the Synod of Sardica , and ordain'd George the Cappadocian in his room , who ( and not the first Gregory , as Theodoret asserts ) was afterwards cruelly slain at Alexandria ; Naz. crat. 21. p. 389. Epip● . haer . 76. Socr. l. 3. c. 2. ●●●om . l. 5. c. 7. script . vit. Athanas . apud Phot. cod . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 788. Philostorg . l. 7. tom. 2. p. 86. Julian . Imp. Ep. 10. Am. Marcellind . 22. Baron . Tom. 4. an. 362. p. 70 , 71. the particulars of which famous Attempt , besides the account which we have from the Ancients , may be read at large in Baronius , and briefly in Billius his notes on the 21st . Oration of S. Greg. Naz.

VII . The Argument of Scultetus , mustered p. 361. to the discarding that Tract of Athanasius , which contains , Testimonies out of the sacred Scriptures , of the Communion of the Divine Essence between the three persons in the Trinity , because many passages here , and in the Questions ad Antiochum , are the same , and therefore these stoln thence , seems to me to evince the contrary , that that counterfeit Author took those passages out of this genuine Treatise of Athanasius , that so he might be the more readily entertain'd as the true Patriarch ; and though Mr. Perkins denys that the Epistle to Marcellinus , concerning the Interpretation of the Psalms , and the Sermon of Virginity be his , yet S. Hierom's Authority weighs more with me , who entitles Athanasius to two Books , one de Psalmorum titulis , another de Virginitate . Nor is it but the most unconcluding of Arguments , that the Homily de semente must be spurious , because found only in an English Book . Manuscripts are common enough now in this Kingdom , and one Copy makes not a Book spurious ; for then the Oration of Athenagoras , de resurrectione , must not be his , because a a Ep. ante Athen. Nannius tells us , that his Copy was the only one in Europe , and the Lexicon of Hesychius must be rejected , because there was never another Copy of it found , but what b b Manut. Epist. ante Lex . Hesych . Bardellonus sent to Aldus Manutius ; but there lyes a more material and weighty Argument against the Homily de semente , than what Mr. Perkins uses ; and that is because the Author of it , ( whom I suppose some Eastern Prelate of the same Age ) mentions the Celebration of the holy duties on Saturday , as well as on the Sunday : Now the c c Socrat. l. 5. c. 21. Sozom. l. 7. c. 19. Church-Historians inform us , that Saturday was anciently a Fasting-day at Alexandria as well as at Rome ; this practice therefore does not suit with the usages of that Church , where Athanasius was Patriarch .

VIII . Nor is it any wonder , that two so distant Churches , as Rome and Alexandria , should agree in those Rituals , wherein they differ'd from almost all other Churches , when we consider , that the first planter of holy Religion in Aegypt S. Mark was S. Peter's Disciple , and Amanuensis , and so would be easily inclined to write after his Masters Copy . The success of the Fast , which was observ'd at Rome before S. Peter's Encounter with Simon Magus , so fully answering expectation in the ruine of that Impostor , gave an occasion to that Church to make it a perpetual sanction , and of constant use , which at first look'd no farther than the present exigence of the Servants of God ; or rather it had its Original from a cause of more general consideration , that whereas the holy Jesus was crucified on Fryday , and the next day the Apostles were overwhelm'd with grief for their Masters loss , and fear of the Jews ; therefore out of a becoming sympathy , and to keep the transactions of those gloomy days fresh in memory , was this Fast appointed .

IX . But the observance prevailed but in a few Churches , for even in Italy it self S. Ambrose conform'd to the Oriental usages , and he that fasted every day else , d d Paulin. in vit. S. Ambr. dined constantly on the Sabbath , and Lords-day , and the Festivals ; e e Illiberit . Conc. can. 26. nor would the old Custom be superseded in Spain by a less Authority , than that of a Council . And though at Alexandria they followed S. Mark's steps , yet in all f f Socrat. Eccles. hist. l. 5. c. 21. other parts of Aegypt , in the Country near that Metropolis , and through all Thebais , they made the Saturday a Festival ; and on it had their Sermons , and celebrated the Eucharist : And whereas in the days of a a Ep. 86. ad Casul . S. Austin there was no steady Rule , by which those Churches acted , for in one and the same Church , says that Father , some fasted , and others dined on the last day of the Week , yet it was otherwise there anciently , for b b Adv. Psychic . c. 15. Tertullian avers , that herein the Montanists , those great admirers and practisers of abstinence , conform'd to the Catholick Rites , not to fast on any Saturday in the year , but on Easter-Eve [ the great Sabbath day , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna more than once calls it ] and the Custom so prevailed over all the East , c c Tom. 2. p. 744. that S. Gregory Nyssen calls the two days Twin-Sisters , nor can any man , says he , honour the Lords day , who despiseth the Saturday . And d d Homil. an liceat dimittere ux . p. 56 , 57 Edit. Raynandi . Asterius Amisenus styles them the Nurses of devotion , and the Parents of Church assemblies , which summon the holy Priest to instruct his Congregation , and command his Congregation , to frequent the house of God , and both to have a due care of their Souls . Which observances had their confirmation not only in the Canons father'd on the e e Can. 66. Can. 16 , 49 , 51. Apostles , and the Provincial Council of [f] Laodicea , but in the g g Can. 55. sixth general Council at Constantinople , which from all the parts of the Catholick Church commands an uniform submission to the Sanction , which the Latines refusing , this among other things help'd to widen the breach between them .

X. And to this day the h h Smyth . p. 29. Greek Church , i i Gaguin . dereb . Muscovit . the Muscovites , the k k Abudac . hist. Jacebit . c. 7. p. 10. Jacobites in Aegypt , the Melchites in Syria , and the l l Breerwood's Enquir . c. 16. &c. 23. Abassynes keep this Festival not in conformity to the Jews , which they expresly deny , and which the same m m Lacdic . c. 29. Council , that commands its Christian observation , does expresly condemn , ( as S. Basil does censure Apollinaris , for the same Crime in his seventy sourth Epistle ) but in honour of the blest Jesus , who is the Lord of the Sabbath . And the Aethiopian Christians plead for it the Authority of the Apostles in their 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Claudius the King of that Country expresly declares in his n n Apud Hottinger . topogr . Eccles. orient . c. 3. p. 47. vid. ejusd. primit . Heidelb . p. 306. Confession , by which he questionless means the Apostles Constitutions , which in more than one place injoyn it , as a preparation to the great day of the remembrance of our Saviours Resurrection [ the Christian Sabbath the Abassynes call it , as they do call the other the Jewish ] Now the Apostles successors forbad fasting on this day , say some , because the primitive Hereticks Menander , Saturnitus , Cerinthus , Basilides , and others believing that the world , because corruptible , was not made by God , but by the Devil , fasted on that day , when the Creation was consummated . Others , that it was done out of complyance with the Jews , who were very numerous in the Eastern part of the World , and very tenacious of the Mosaical Ceremonies , so Circumcision was for a while retained to bury the Synagogue with honor , others to testifie Christs resting in the grave that day ; and perhaps it proceeded from an unwillingness suddenly to cancel and abrogate that Festival , which had by God himself been set apart for religious Exercises , and which not only the bless'd Jesus the Lord of the Sabbath kept , while here on earth , but his Apostles for a very considerable time after his ascension ; and so much for that usage .

XI . The Questions ad Antiochum are undoubtedly the off-spring of some other father , and in this I assent to Mr. H. p. 370. But that therefore all the opinions therein mention'd must not be Orthodox , I cannot imagine ; for as to the nine Orders of Angels , the belief thereof is as antient as the genuine Athanasius , for presently after him I find them distinctly reckoned by a a Apolard● . Ruff● . l. 2. p. 220. vid. ej . com . in Is . 63. S. Hierome for the Western Churches , under the title of Cherubim and Seraphim , throni , principatus , dominationes , virtutes , potestates , Archangeli , angeli , and by b b Orat. 39. p. 207. Ed. Paris . 1622. S. Basii of Seleucia for the Churches of the East . I will , says he , run through the Orders of Angels , and leave the Princes thereof , i. e. the Arch-angels behind me , I shall be carried above the most pleasing company of the thrones , above the height of powers , and the eminence of principalities , and the force of virtues , above the most pure , and perspicacious Cherubim , and the quick Seraphim adorned with six wings . And if we may confide in the conjectures of those learned men , that place the Epocha of the Pseudo-Dionysius in the beginning of the fourth Century , and make him coevous with Eusebius the Church-Historian , then the Opinion will justly claim more Antiquity ; nor was the notion unknown to the Platonists of that age , c c De Myster. Aegypt . Segm. 2. c. 3. Jamblichus , who was Pophyry's Scholar , and flourisht under Julian the Apostate , naming the several Orders of the Heavenly Hierarchy , and Scutellius his Translator in the Margin reckons them .

XII . And in truth I am perswaded , that the Opinion is as old as Origen , not only because S. Hierome , where he enumerates these nine Orders of Spirits , treats of Origen's errors , but because I find the father himself numbring them , under the names d d 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . l. 1. c. 6. of Angels , Virtues , Principalities , Powers , Thrones , and Dominions , e e Hom. 3. & 4. in S. Luc. Seraphim , and Arch-angels , and these he there stiles divers Orders ; nay Clemens of Alexandria , in his Excerpta out of the Oriental doctrine of Theodotus gives an account of the different Offices and Dignities of Angels , and f f Ep ad Smyrn . S. Ignatius before him discourses of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the divers ranks , and Orders of Angels , as not only Baronius , but our most learned Pearson understand him . And why this notion should be so strange , when holy Writ defends it , I know not ; in that we have an account of Angels frequently , of Arch-angels , 1 Thes. 4.16 . of Cherubim , Gen. 3.24 . of Seraphim , Is. 6.2 . of Principalities , Powers , Virtues , and Dominions , Eph. 1.21 . of Thrones , Col. 1.16 . Nor can I fancy , that these are divers names of the same thing , for a a To. 2. adv. Jovin . l. 2. p. 90. sinè causa diversitas nominum est , ubi non est diversitas meritorum , says S. Hierome in this very case , it is in vain to use different names , where the things are not distinguish'd .

XIII . That the Saints departed know all things , we leave as a novel assertion to its Patrons the Romanists , in the mean time believing , that the Saints pray for us , for the whole Church in general , which no sober man denies , and sometimes , and on some occasions for some persons in particular , of which the History of Potamiaena in b b Hist. Eccl. l. 6. c. 4. Eusebius is a sufficient evidence , So S. Ignatius promises the Church at c c Ep. ad Tralli . p. 20. Trallis , that he would pray for them , not only while he was alive , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but also when he came to Heaven . And when the Fathers tell us , that S. Paul's Conversion was owing to S. Stephen's Prayers , may it not relate not only to the Lord lay not this sin to their charge , but to his Supplications for him in Heaven ? thus did d d Hom. 3. in Cant. Origen believe , and e e Ep. 57. p. 78. vid. eund. de disc. & hab. virg. p. 139. & de mortalit . p. 177. S. Cyprian writing to Cornelius , and the Confessors mentions a solemn agreement made between those good men , that whoever went first of them into another World should testifie his love to his friends on earth by his prayers for them at the throne of Grace ; so f f Confess . l. 9. c. 3. S. Austin believ'd , that his dear friend Nebridius dealt with him ; and g g Epist. 1. To. 1. p. 2. S. Hierome promises himself the same kindnesses from Heliodorus , to omit other instances ; and does not S. Peter promise to do so for the Jews to whom he writes , 2 Pet. 1.15 . That he will endeavour , that after his decease they might have those things in remembrance , I am sure so h h In Loc. To. 2. p. 534. Oecumenius understands it [ and his reason is , because the Saints after their departure carry their remembrances of things on earth with them , and become Advocates for those that are left alive ] and before him i i To. 5. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 994. S. Chrysostome affirms the same . Nor is the intercession of the holy Jesus hereby imposed on , for if the prayers of the Saints on earth do no way prejudice the honour of our Mediator and Advocate [ and S. Paul begs those prayers frequently , Ephes. 6.19 . Colos. 4.3 , &c. ] why should the prayers of the Saints in Heaven be an usurpation on his priviledges ? That the glorified Saints pray for us the Scripture avers , Jer. 15.1 . Ezck. 14.14 . Rev. 5.8 . and ch. 8.3 . and that God does give many blessings to his Servants on earth for the sake of those that are in bliss , is also plain from Gen. 26.4 , 5 , 24. Exod. 32.13 . 1 Reg. 11.33 , &c. And if so , what should make the tenet unorthodox , I cannot imagine , which hath the Scripture , Fathers , and Catholick consent to confirm it .

XIV . The adoration of images we execrate as idolatrous , but the retention of them , if not adored , the whole body of the Lutheran Churches will defend , nor does the Church of England disown it ; and I think there is no more danger in seeing a picture , than in reading a History , if imitation be the end of both . The distinction of sins into venial and mortal , will find few opponents , if rightly understood ; not as if some enormities deserv'd the torments of Hell , others only temporal punishments [ for the wages of every sin is death ] but that some crimes , either in respect of the matter , wherein the offence is committed , or the intention of the offender , who transgresses either through ignorance , or weakness , are not so inconsistent with a salvable condition . No sin in its self being venial , says a a Moral . Tract. 3. c. 20. apud Heyl. Theolog. Vet. l. 3. c. 5. Jacobus Almain out of Gerson , but according to the condition and state of the subject , that sins . Some transgressions necessarily implying an exclusion of Grace , others ex genere , & imperfectione actûs may be said to be venial negativè , & per non ablationem principii remissionis , and so b b Enchirid. c. 70. S. Austin is to be understood , that the saying that Petition , Forgive us our trespasses , does propitiate Gods mercy for such sins .

XV. The divers Orders of Monks were frequent in S. Athanasius's time , and in his Province of Aegypt above all other places . There S. Anthony became the first Angel of the desart , whose life Athanasius writ , and there for a while lived Hilarion one of his Scholars ; in that country Pachomius retired to Tabennesus , and Ammon to Mount Nitria and the Desart of Scetis , in as much as The bais and Aegypt were covered with their multitudes ; and to this Classis of men does our Patriarch write his Epistle Ad solitariam vitam agentes .

XVI . The necessity of Baptisms hath been already considered ; and the Sacrament of penance must be left at the Popes door ; though take penance to include all the offices of repentance , and Sacrament in its largest signification , so c c Ep. 180. ad Honorat . S. Austin calls Baptisme , and penance Sacraments , and so does d d Div. dogmat Epit. cap. de paenitentia . Theodoret , subjoyning , that the washings , and sacrifices of old were only types of these Sacred Mysteries . And if we may take Cardinal e e Tom. 2. contr. 4. l. 1. c. 9. Bellarmines word for it , Luther , Melancthon , and the Apology of the Confession of Auspurgh make Baptisme , the Eucharist , and Absolution , i. Penance , properly and truly Sacraments , and such as were instituted by Christ . But there I must desert them .

XVII . Of what sort the prayers for the dead were in the primitive Saecula , and that till Athanasius's time , and long after , they had no relation to Purgatory ( since in their Liturgies they prayed for Patriarchs , and Prophets , for Apostles , and Martyrs , and the Virgin Mary her self ) the reverend Vsher in his f f Pag. 197 , 198. answer to the Jesuite will give him full satisfaction ; nor does the Church of England do less in her Collect at Funerals , where we pray for the hastening the kingdom of Christ , that we together with all those , that are departed in the faith and fear of Gods holy name , may have our perfect consummation and bliss both in body and Soul in his Eternal and Everlasting glory . Or as it is in a a P. 10. the form of bidding prayer prescribed in the injunctions of King Edward 6th , Anno 1547. Ye shall pray for them that be departed out of the world , in the faith of Christ , that we with them , and they with us may rest at the day of judgment both body and soul with Abraham , Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdome of heaven . And did I think , says an b b Lord C●arendon's Answ. to Cressy . p. 167. honourable person , that my prayers , or any thing else I could do , could purchase the least ease to the Souls of my friends , or enemies , I would pour them out with all my heart , nor should I fear reprehension from the Church of England , who says nothing in it , unless comprehended in the Article of Purgatory , and there only calls it a fond thing .

XVIII . Why Anti-Christ should not be a particular person , but a Society , or Kingdom opposite to the Kingdom of Christ , I profess my ignorance , Vide Montag . Appel . cap. 5. or that the Pope rather than the Grand Signior should be the man , since Constantinople is built on seven hills , and the Church of Saint Sophia is made a Mosque . I know what the Fathers say of Anti-Christ , what the Romanists , and what the Protestant Churches affirm . Powel in his e e Christ . Lectori . Epistle before his book , de Antichristo tells the world , that he is as sure , that the Pope is the great Anti-Christ , and the Roman Church his Synagogue , as that God is in heaven , or Christ our Saviour . And the French Synod at Gap decreed it for an Article of Faith , An. 1603. On the other hand d d De Apost. Eccles. & de homine peccati p. 24. Kit Angelo pretends a vision , that the Grand Signior is he ; and the late Bishop of Ossory Doctor Griffith Williams in his book called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , gives as good reasons as either of them to prove the late prevalent faction in this Nation , to have been the Anti-Christ . All with confidence enough , and some probabilities to shoar up their Tenet ; but for my self , I profess ingenuously , it is a Mystery , which I understand not , and as e e Ad fin . comment . in Epistolas . Cardinal Cajetan says of the Apocalypse so say I , me nescire exponere , exponat , cui Deus concesserit . I have not skill enough to interpret the Prophecy , let him do it , whom God hath enabled .

XIX . The last opinion which Mr. H. reckons as Popish , and Novel in these questions ad Antiochum is the Sacrifice of the Altar , where I know not , whether he cavils at the names , Ignat. Ep. ad Magnes . p. 34. Ed. Voss . & Ep. ad Philadelph p. 40. Polycarp . Ep. p. 17. Iren. l. 4. c. 20. Can. App. 3. & 4. Tertul. de paenit . cap. 9. & de exhort . castit . & de orat . ad fin . Cypr. Ep. 66. p. 93. & Ep. 73. p. 105. Conc. Laodic . Can. 19. Euseb. l. 10. c. 4. Naz. Tom. 1. orat . 11. p. 186. Ambros . l. 5. Ep. 32. p. 147. Aug. Epist. 50. &c. or the things signified . That the name Altar was antiently given to the holy Table , whereon the sacred Mysteries were celebrated , is very plain in antiquity , and the Fathers trod in the steps of Saint Paul , Heb. 13.10 . So Ignatius , Polycarp , Irenaeus , Tertullian , Cyprian , Greg. Naz. Ambrose , Augustin , the Canons of the Apostles , and the council of Laodicea , to omit Chrysostome , Optatus , and others , who tell us of serving at Gods Altar , of kneeling , and lying prestrate before it , and of Maximinus's being beat with the broken pieces of the altar , as he stood at Gods table , and Saint Athanasius in the life of Saint Anthony , says that that good man foresaw the rise of the Arian Heresie in a vision , wherein he beheld certain wild mules overturning the altars of the Christian Church with their heels . And so is the word used by Oecolampadius , Zanchy , and other reformed Divines . a a Chilling . praefin. 24. And it is the glory of the Church of England , that we can use the names of priests , and altars , and yet neither believe the corporeal presence , nor any proper , and propitiatory Sacrifice .

XX. This last Sacrifice we leave to the Church of Rome , Iren. l. 4. c. 34. sacrificia in popu●o Judaico , sacrificia & in Ecclesia . but assert that in the Eucharist there is a Sacrifice , 1. Of the remembrance of Christs death , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in that famous place of Saint Chrysostome . 2. The Elements are properly the peoples Sacrifice , for primitively the Congregation brought of the good things of the earth , and offered them on the altar , part whereof was Consecrated to be the Mystical Elements , and the rest spent in a love-feast , those they first solemnly tender'd on the altar , and then as in the peace-offerings among the Jews , and other Sacrifices among the Gentiles , the people fed on their own Oblations . [ And this properly is called Sacrificium by the b b Just. M. dial . cum Tryph. p. 260. Iren. l. 4. c. 3. Cypr. de Oper. & Eleemos . p. 180. Aug. Ser. 215. &c. Fathers . ] 3. Good Christians in that Sacrament offer to God themselves , their Souls , and bodies to be a living Sacrifice , which is their reasonable service , as our Liturgy hath it . 4. A Sacrifice of penitence , and a broken heart there offer'd to God . 5. A Sacrifice of prayers and praise , which properly makes it an Eucharist . 6. A Sacrifice of Alms to the poor . And all these are acknowledged to be in the Sacrament by the c c De sacrif . miss. l. 3. c. 1. p. 752. vide & Chemmit . exam. part 2. Sect. de missae Sacrific . p. 718. &c. Noble du Plessis . It is no wonder , that the Fathers call the Holy supper a Sacrifice where the sacred office is a commemoration of the sacrifice on the Cross , where there is the reading , and exposition of the word of God , and fervent prayers , the contrition of the heart , and the Consecration of the whole man to God , and an Extensive Charity to all their brethren , who in Christ are coheirs with them of heaven .

XXI . Nor is the term unbloody Sacrifice , so great a Mormo , but that our profound d d Ag. Hard. art . 17. Sect. 14. Jewel allows of it , [ according to the Antients ; e e Demon. Evang. l. 1. c. 6. & Orat. de laud. Const. ad fin . Fusebius frequently terming it the Sacrifice that is abstracted from blood , as does also Saint Gregory Nazian-and others among the Fathers ] nor is that learned Prelate herein singular , but I find him seconded by the modest , and f f De cultu Dei extern . l. 1. c. 16. p. 421. acute Hierome Zanchy , who allows of the distinction of the Oblation of Christ into that of bloody , and unbloody ; not but that all the Primitive Sages were ignorant of the Doctrine of Transubstantiation , says he , but they so called the Sacrament for two reasons , both because it is an image , and representation , of that propitiatory Sacrifice , which Christ on the Cross offer'd up to his Father , and also because it is a Sacrifice of praise , and thanksgiving , as for all other the mercies of Heaven , so especially for the redemption of the world by the Blood of Jesus . Ambr. Hom 92. de SS. Naz. & Cels . To. 3. p. 322. Ed. Costeri . Magni periculi res est , si post prophetarum oracula , post Apostolorum Testimonia , post Martyrum vulnera veterem fidem , quasi novellam , discutere praesumas , & post tam manifestos duces in errore permaneas , & post morientium sudores otiosa disputatione contendas . What necessity is there then , these things being duly considered , that we must be forc'd to learn a new Jargon in Divinity , were it not to introduce new Sentiments , and such as differ from the Judgment of the first and best Ages ? but there is a kind of necessity to dress new Notions in new Terms .

XXIII . Nor will Rivet's Argument , which Mr. H. p. 371. uses , disfranchize the Anonymous questions that go under the name of Athanasius , because in them the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Son is denyed , but rather confirm them to be our Patriarch's , both because that Opinion is ancienter than S. Athanasius , and the same which himself embraces ; and since Mr. H. doth more than intimate the novelty of that Opinion , and the World hath been too censorious to condemn the whole Greek Church of Heresie in this point , it may not be altogether impertinent , if we consider the State and Original of that Dogma , together with the rise and occasion of the addition ( filioque ) to the Constantinopolitan Creed .

XXIV . And here it is observable , that the procession of the holy Ghost , as it falls under our cognisance , is twofold , the first unspeakable and eternal , by which from before all Ages he proceeded from the Father ; the other temporal , when he was sent into the World , and so he came both from the Father and the Son , according to that of a a Tom. 2. hom. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in Johan . p. 876. S. Chrysostome , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . And this twofold procession perchance might give an occasion to that mistake of b b Poetic . lib. 6. cap. 4. p. 780. Julius Scaliger , that the Greeks did believe there were two holy Ghosts : Now the Controversie between the Eastern and Western Churches , is concerning the Eternal procession , which the Greeks make to be from the Father by the Son . And notwithstanding the learned c c Tom. 1. contr. 2. l. 2. c. 24 , 25. Cardinal 's large muster of the Fathers both Greek and Latine in two whole Chapters to the contrary , I shall undertake to evince , that this was the belief of all the Fathers of the four first Centuries , till the days of S. Ambrose : for the Tractate de adventu spiritus S. father'd on S. Cyprian , is by Pamelius acknowledged to be of a much younger Author .

XXV . The Opinion anciently was so generally believed and so publickly known , that a a Tom. 2. p. 1121. Lucian , or whoever was the Author of the Philopatris , introduces Triephon , advising Critias , To leave off his Heathen Oaths , and to swear by the high and eternal God , by his Son , and the Spirit , who proceeds from the Father , the Trinity in Vnity , and Vnity in Trinity ; which contains an excellent Summary of the Christian Faith , though scoffingly there quoted ; but we will omit such Foreign , and summon Domestick Testimonies . b b Legat. pro Christ . p 30. Ed. Steph. Athenagoras informs us , That the Son is the mind , the wisdom , and word of the Father , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and the Holy Ghost an Emanation from him , as light is from the Fire . i. from the same Father , says his Translator Gesner , and so also I understand him . So c c Adv. Pra xeam . c. 1. Tertullian affirms the Original of the Spirit to be from the Father by the Son ; and d d Oper. p 1. Ed. V●ss●i . Gregory Thaumaturgus in that Creed , which was given him by Revelation by the hands of the blessed Virgin , and S. John Baptist , thus declares his Belief , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . i. the holy Spirit as to his eternal proceeding came from the Father , but as to his Mission in time unto men , Christ sent him ; and this I believe to be the Fathers meaning , notwithstanding what the infallibility e e Voss● Not. in loc. p. 104. of Pope Gregory the ninth would draw from these words to the Confutation of the Greek Heresie , and after him the Cardinal . This Creed is quoted by S. Gregory Nyssen , in the life of this miraculous Father , and the Doctrine uncensur'd , and therefore we may conclude it his belief also ; especially if it be true , what f f Lib. 12. c. 13. Nicephorus , and others say , that in the Constantinopolitan Council , the Creed , ( which we vulgarly call the Nicene ) was penn'd by S. Greg. Nyssen , we need no other specimen of his Opinion in this case . Nor was his Brother S. Basil's Opinion different , nor his dear friend's S. Gregory the Divine , with whom not only Epiphanius , Basil●●o . 1. in Ps. 32. p. 203. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . vid. l. 5. contr. Eu●m . c. 12. Greg. Naz. tom. 1. or . 29. p. 493. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Id. Or. 35. p. 5●3 . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Epiph. in Anchor . cap. 6. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Hier. tom. 5. com . in Is . c. 57. Spiritus S. — qui de patre egreditur , & propter societatem naturae à filio mittitur , and having quoted Jo. 15.26 . he adds , nè scandalizet quempiam , si spiritus egrediatur ex patre . See the Creeds ad Damasum & Cyrillum . tom. 4. p. 127 , 224. Hilar. tom. 1. de trinit. l. 12. p. 261. ut patrem sc. te nostrum , & filium tuum unà tecum adorem , & sanctum spiritum tuum , qui ex te per unigenitum tuum est , promerear . And again , lib. 8. p. 139. à patre enim procedit spiritus veritatis , sed à filio mittitur , & à patre . S. Chrysost. tom . 6. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 730. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . but his Scholar S. Hierom agree , though generally computed among the Latine Fathers of the other Opinion ; for the passages quoted by Bellarmine and others , relate to the tem●oral Mission of the Spirit from the Son , which we deny not , with whom also S. Hilary of Poictou , and S. Chrysostom joyn consort .

XXVI . And for this Opinion Theodoret is so stout a Champion , that the men of the other perswasion make him the Author of it , and censure him for it , as speaking too rashly and agreeing with the Greek Heresie , as they word it in a a Rome . 1547. their Preface to the Edition which I use ; and with him also agrees b b Lib. 12. in Joh. c. 56. S. Cyril of Alexandria , and in after ages Maximus , and John Damascene , as I find them quoted by c c Sguropuli hist. Conc. Florent . sect. 8. c. 15. p. 239. Marcus Ephesius in the Council of Florence ; and after them d d In Johan. 3. p. 604. Theophylact most expresly ; the Latines , says he , make the Spirit to proceed from the Son ; but we say , that it is one thing to be of another , and another thing to proceed from another ; that we may not therefore make two causes of the holy spirits production ; believe thou , that the Spirit proceeds from the Father , but is confer'd on the Creatures by the Son , and let this be the rule of Orthodoxy to thee ; and e e Vit. Greg. M. l. 4. c. 75. Paulus Diaconus assures us , that when the Greeks translated the Dialogues of Gregory the great into their own language , they scrap'd out the word ( filioque ) out of his discourse of the procession of the Holy Ghost .

XXVII . And it was one of the Articles against Cyrillus Lucaris , the late Patriarch of Constantinople , which promoted his deposition in the Synod , held there under Parthenius , an. 1642. That in his Confession he had held the eternal and essential procession of the holy Ghost from the Father and the Son , against the determination of the Catholick Church . But herein they belyed the good man , for in f f Interpraestant . ac erud . viror . Epp. Eccles. & Theolog. p. 403. his Epistle to Vytenbogard , when he was only Patriarch of Alexandria , he professes his Belief in this Article , consonant to the Doctrine of the Greek Church , which denyes the holy Ghost to have proceeded from the Son essentialiter , & internè , & quoad esse , lest they should make two principles of his existence , which is Heretical : And in the first Chapter of his Confession of the Christian Faith ( the Book which occasioned his deposition and Martyrdom ) he acknowledges , that the holy Spirit doth proceed from the Father by the Son , which is the true sentiment of the Oriental Churches , in which the g g Confess . Claudii regis apud Hotting . topogr . Eccl. or . c. 3. p. 76. Aethiopian Christians , h h Field of the Ch. l. 3. c. 1. p. 70 , 74. the Coptites , and h h Field of the Ch. l. 3. c. 1. p. 70 , 74. the Maronites concentre , the last of which admit it into their Creed . And the whole Greek Church confess ( as is affirm'd by the learned i i Ubi supr. p. 127. Mr. Smyth , who liv'd a considerable time among them ) that the third person in the Trinity is consubstantial with the Father , and the Son , and coequal , that he is the Spirit of the Son , that he is sent , given , poured out , infused , inspired by the Son , and if you understand the word proceeding of his sending in time , neither do they refuse to use that term also , they allowing him to be the Spirit of the Son , as he is called Gal. 4.6 . and the Spirit of Christ , as Rom. 8.9 . Phil. 1.19 .

XXVIII . To which we may subjoin , that whereas the Apostolical and Nicene Creeds are silent in this point , the Constantinopolitan , which was the next , hath asserted the proc●ssion of the holy Ghost from the Father exclusivè , to which Creed in the last Canon save one of the Ephesine Council , it is expresly forbidden to make any Additions ; which Caution was again inserted in the Council of Chalcedon , and when notwithstanding this care the Addition had been made , the eighth General Council , as the Greeks style it , order'd the words to be expung'd , as is affirm'd by Marcus , Bishop of Ephesus , in the Council of Florence . This Creed was publickly read in the Eastern Churches , as a part of their Liturgy , and from that laudable custom was introduc'd into the West in a a Can. 2. the third Toletane Council , ( the Occidental Churches till then using only the Apostles Creed , as b b Tom. 4. an. 381. p. 431. Baronius acknowledges ) but no Addition heard of , till the seventh General Council , and the eighth at Toledo ; for that it should be made by Pope Damasus , as is affirm'd by Joseph Bishop of Modon in that Tract , which is falsely father'd on him in the Florentine Council , and by Manuel Caldecas , or by the Doctors of the Catholick Church , presently after the Council of Nice , as others aver , I suppose few men are at leasure to credit .

XXIX . The Spaniards therefore first inserted the addition [ filioque ] and after them the French ; Vide P. Lombard . lib. 1. dist. 11. B. but both were in this case opposed by Pope Leo the third , and the whole Roman Church , Leo causing two silver Tables to be made , and in them the Symbol to be writ in Latine , and Greek , according to the primitive Copy , and the Tables to be plac'd behind the Altar of S. Peter , there to be kept as a Testimony to posterity . The Doctrine also was vindicated by Pope John the 8th to the learned Photius , nor did it ever prevail at Rome , till Ann. 883. under Pope Nicholas the first , and that without a general Council . So that we may hence judge , that the Romanists gave occasion to the Schisme , c c Archb. Laud against Pisher . sect. 9. n. 2. it being hard measure to add , and anathematize too .

XXX . I have kept S. Athanasius for my last Testimony , and will only instance in the quotation of the great Cardinal , which he uses to prop the contrary opinion , but it quite ruines it . It is an impossibility , says our d d Redarg . hypocris . Meletii , circ. fin . Patriarch , to give the holy Spirit a place in the Glory of the blessed Trinity , if he had not proceeded from the Father by the Son . Nor is the addition [ 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ] to be found in the Manuscript Copies of his Creed in Greek , nor in the Printed Copies at Paris 1597 , or by Commelinus 1600. although the Latine Translation hath it . And therefore Meletius the Patriarch of Constantinople , in his Epistle to Janus Douza , says ; it hath been adulterated by an Appendix made to it by the Popes , and withal adds , that it is not his , whatever Mr. H. p. 377. is pleas'd to say to the contrary . Nor have the Latines escapt the impeachment of being guilty of corrupting the Fathers , the Writer of the a a Sect. 9. c. 3. p. 253. History of the Council of Florence , in the name of his Brethren instancing in the works of S. Chrysostome . And if , sayes he , they are not afraid to do so in his Homilies , which they from their youth to their old age , were always conversant in how much more must they expect they had done so in the Latine Fathers ?

XXXI . So that in this case we see the Greeks keep themselves to express words of Scripture , Joh. 15.26 . Heylin's Theol. vet. l. 3. c. 1. p. 379. the Latines depend on some Logical inferences from thence , and so have the worst end of the cause ; in as much as Logical inferences to men of ordinary capacities are not so evident as plain texts of Scripture . They have also on their side the writings of the Fathers , the Acts of the ancient Synods , and the Ecclesiastical Records , and a pregnant Testimony in Rome it self , in the two Tables hung up by the command of Pope Leo the third . And yet so little is our Charity , that besides their many other sufferings for the name of Christ , we must add this one grievance more , to accuse them of no less than Schism , and Heresie . And therefore I thought my self bound to vindicate them from that unjust aspersion .

XXXII . That S. Athanasius writ the life of S. Anthony is more than once affirm'd by S. Hierome , Greg. Naz. Socrates , and others ; and notwithstanding some ridiculous passages , I cannot proscribe the Book , since he that looks into Cassianus , shall find much wilder , and more childish transactions , and yet no man denies those Collations to have been his . And however some men affirm S. Anthony to have been a Lawyer , and very learned , S. Hierome entitles him only to seven Epistles to certain Monasteries of his founding , writ in an Apostolical , i. e. a plain stile , first in the language of the Country , and then translated into Greek . For so b b Ep. ante Did. de Spiritu S. S. Hierome speaks of Didymus , that you might easily know him to be an Apostolical person , by the simplicity and plainness of his style● ; but in what style these Epistles were writ , themselves will make appear , being not long since translated out of Arabick into Latine , and set forth by Abraham Ecchellensis the Maronite : And yet perhaps this , as well as some other of our Patriarchs writings , hath not escapt the foul hands c c Baron . tom. 3. an. 343. n. 6. of the followers of Apollinaris . Nor is it but too Magisterially spoken , p. 373. that the exhortation ad Monachos is forged , only on the authority of Mr. Perkins , whose judgment , I suppose , the Church of England will decline , as in many matters of controversie , so in as many of Church-History , and Christian Philology .

XXXIII . In the same page the Epistles between Pope Marcus , and Athanasius are condemned , as spurious , and consequently the seventy additional Canons to the Nicene Council ; and of them I shall leave my Reader to judge , when I have given him the judgment of the sagacious a a Notes on Sir Tho. Ridley's View of the Civil and Eccl. Laws . part 3. ch. 2. sect. 4. p. 218 , 219. Mr. Gregory . Some say , that these Canons are supposititious , I only know , that they may be so , not that they are ; and however it may be dull to entertain any thing , that shall be obtruded , yet the rejection of ancient Authors and Councils should be warily concluded upon . Thus much notwithstanding is recorded , that by reason of the Arian incendiaries , a compleat number of the Canons of that Council was so rarely found , that Athanasius himself , who was present at the Synod , was forc'd to send into these parts to the Bishop of Rome that then was , to desire from him a perfect Copy , because in the Eastern world a few , or none had escapt the fire of the Arians . This is in the Epistles supposed to have past between Pope Mark , and Athanasius , and if these be true , the Canons are the less to be suspected . — The reasons against which Epistles are for the most part Chronological , which are subject to much hazard .

XXXIV . The Homily de passione imaginis Christi in Beryto is doubtless counterfeit , the dissertation being too ridiculous to be fathered on so wise a man ; but notwithstanding this , I believe it antienter , than the second Nicene Council , where it was solemnly produc'd by Peter Bishop of Nicomedia , as a true & venerable Relation , whose Author was Athanasius , to which more solemn publication of the story I conjecture the date of some Manuscripts hath Relation . The Sermon on our Saviours passion is of the Nature of those 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , of which the seventh Tome of S. Chrysostom will furnish so great a number , being the Collections of some laborious man out of the writings of such a Father according to the Custom of the middle Ages , which delighted much in Epitomes , but that the seven additional Homilies set out by Holstenius should be spurious , only because they lay so long dormant , is a strange way of arguing , while himself confesses , that some of them are approved by Photius a much better Critick than any of this last Age , and all found in three several Libraries at Oxford , Paris , and Rome . And if their lying so long dormant , shall disenfranchize them , what might we think of the Epistle of S. Clemens to the Corinthians , which was wisht for in vain in the Western World , till the Patriarch of Alexandria sent it to King Charles ? or the many pieces of several other Worthies of the Church ; which never saw light , till the last Editions of their Works . But I am weary of following him in his dry , jejune , and borrowed Criticisms , wherein Erasmus , and Rivet , Scultetus , Cook , and Perkins are his Oracles .

XXXV . That the words , which Athanasius uses , were only known to the Age wherein he lived , and neither before , nor after , is an inconsiderate assertion , though positively affirm'd p. 375. since a a Ep. ad African . the Patriarch himself quotes his Predecessor Dionysius , and Dionysius of Rome , with Theognostus , and others among those , who called our blest Saviour 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or consubstantial with his Father , and for 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the term is frequent in Justin Martyr , and Athenagoras , and is as old as S. John's Gospel : and should we grant , that these words were first used which Relation to the Arian Controversies , yet no man can be so mad to be perswaded , they were never so used after his time .

XXXVI . Whether the Creed , that goes under the name of Athanasius be his or no , I shall not dispute , but must profess , that Mr. H's argument , p. 376. is not convictive ; for what S. Gregory Naz. means is no other , but that Epistle sent to the Emper or Jovianus , mentioned p. 359. containing the Orthodox Doctrine in opposition to the new Creed of the Arians , which is extant in the first tome of S. Athanasius's works , and in b b Li. 4. c. 3. Theodoret's History . And now could I heartily wish for a man skill'd in unriddling mysteries , to instruct me in the sense of that Translation , p. 384. where undertaking to assert the peoples power in Electing a Bishop , he says , The people being gathered together , with the Holy Ghost , who constitute a Bishop publickly , and in the presence of the Clergy craving a Bishop . Of which words I profess my incapacity to make sense , or if any be to be supposed , it implies that the people , and the holy Ghost did joyn suffrages , and both chuse a Bishop ( which seems to me a very strange medley ) and the Clergy at the same time sat by , as unconcern'd spectators .

XXXVII . But this is not the first time , that such false assertions have been impos'd on the Fathers , while their most Orthodox Sentiments have been represented under the Notion of Errors . Thus as to the Article of the local descent Mr. H. is not content p. 296. to tell us , that it is a novel addition to the Creed , and that it signifies no more than that Christ was buryed ( which how absurd it is , that in so short a Summary there should be two Articles the same , and the later , that should explain the former , infinitely more obscure , let all rational men judge ) but , p. 386. objects it against Athanasius , that he affirms the local descent of Christ into Hell , which c c Ep. 99. ad Euod . S. Austin says , none but an Infidel , d d Etymolog . l. 8. c. 5. S. Isidore of Sevil , none but an Heretick will deny . Some by this Article would understand Christ's suffering Hellish pains in his foul , during his Agony and Dereliction on the Cross , this is the Calvinists beloved Dogma , and to say no more of it , borders too near on blasphemy to be defended . Others that he continued 3 days in the state of the dead , his soul during that space being separated from his body till the time of his resurrection : this Opinion the Arch-bishop of Armagh first introduc'd into the World , and it hath since found many an eminent Patron , there being nothing in it , says Dr. Hammond , against the Creeds of ours or the antient Church .

XXXVIII . But the received opinion of the Antients is , that Christ in the space between his death and resurrection , went down locally into the Hell of the damned , not to suffer any thing there [ for this Article is reckoned by all as the first of those in the Creed , that relate to his exaltation ] but to triumph over Satan in his own territories , and to manifest his conquests to the powers of darkness ; that Satan might see , that he , whom he tempted , was the true Messiah , to fasten condemnation to those faln Angels by a decretory sentence personally pass'd on them , and to receive the homage , which he extorted from them , that the wicked might look on that Saviour whom they despised , and be convinc'd that their torments were the just punishment of their infidelity , and that that King of terrors might see , that he had no right to the Elect , who were delivered , and secured from his power by the sufferings of the Son of God , and perhaps to make a publick demand there , whether any thing more were to be done for the perfecting mans redemption . This the Lord Primate acknowledges to be the general sense of Antiquity , a a Archbish. against Fisher , Sect. 11. n. 3. and in that sense , in which the Antient Primitive Fathers agreed , the Church of England believes the words , as in the Creed , without further dispute . And the learned b b On the Creed , Sect. of the descent . p. 479. Ed. in quarto . Pearson , who inclines to the second opinion , confesses , that whereas the Fathers are made wonderfully to differ in this point , yet there is nothing , which they agree in more , than in this , a real descent of the soul of Christ unto the habitation of the souls departed ; the persons to whom , and the end for which he descended , they differ in , but as to a local descent into the infernal parts they all agree . But this Article hath been so accurately handled by Bishop Bilson of old , and lately by c c Theolog. Vett . l. 2. c. 8 , 9 , &c. Dr. Heylin to the answering of all objections , that thither I am content to refer my Reader , and there he shall meet with particular satisfaction .

XXXIX . The second error , which this Patriarch is charged with , is , that the Fathers were in Hell till our Saviours resurrection , and at his descent into that place were delivered . I will not say , that the words 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and Inferi , are of a very comprehensive signification in themselves , and include both Paradise , and the place of the damned , which is undertook by Dr. Windet in his De vitâ functorum statu , but will take them in an Ecclesiastical sense , and if we grant , that the Son of God led captivity captive at his descent into Hell , the question is at an end , says a a Ubi supr. p. 506. Dr. Pearson , for in vain shall we pretend , that Christ descended into Hell to lead captivity captive , if we withal maintain , that when he descended thither , he brought none away , that were captive there . For this was the notion which the Fathers had , that the Sons of men were conquer'd by Satan , and after death actually brought into captivity , and that the Soul of Christ descending to the places where they were , did actually release them from that bondage , and brought them out of the possession of the Devil by force ; for if he had taken no souls from thence , how did he spoil Hell ? Now that so the Fathers understood this doctrine , see a a Thesaur . part. 1. l. 2. art. 4. Jodocus Coccius , and Dr. b b Ubi supr. Heylin at large , but we will content our selves with c c De Dogmat . Eccles. cap. 78. Gennadius , Before the passion of Christ all the souls of the Saints were [ not in Hell properly so called , under the power of eternal torments , but ] not as yet freed from the punishment of Adam ' 's sin , and therefore in a servile , and inferior condition , not to expiate their sin by that punishment , but out of a necessity , till Christ taking our humane nature upon him , and becoming the second Adam , freed them from that curse , and their confinement to that place , where yet they were under a certain hope of a future redemption , which being by Christ perfected on the Cross , they with the penitent Thief went with him into Paradise .

XL. Against so universal a tenet of the Catholick Church , says d d De rep. Eccles. l. 5. c. 8. n. 124. p. 384. Spalatensis , I have nothing to oppose [ for Gennadius made a collection of none but Catholick opinions ] let those , to whom the Doctrine is displeasing , disprove it . This he speaks probably , but confidently e e N. 122. p. 383. affirms , that the souls of all good men , who dyed before our Saviours resurrection , never entred into heaven till then , and so says our learned f f Gagge . Sect. 41. & Appello c. 18. Montague , to whom I will subjoyn the forementioned g g Ubi supr. Dr. Heylin , the joynt consent of all the Fathers make me hold off my hand from condemning it as false , or impious , it being nothing derogatory to the Gospel , or Kingdom of Christ , but seems to add much lustre to our Saviours person , according to the Te Deum , that Christ opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all Believers . The little objections against which opinion he there answers , and quotes Bullinger to uphold his hypothesis . And is not this meant by Nowel in his Catechisme ? who makes the third reason of Christ's descent into Hell to be , that the dead , who in their life time trusted in him to come for redemption , might understand , and perceive , that the work of their redemption was according to their hopes finished . I shall end the Section , when I have said , that it was one of the h h Art. 3. p. 41. Articles of Religion agreed on in the Reformation under Edward the VI. An. 1552. As Christ dyed , and was buried for us , so also it is to be believed , that he went down into Hell , for the body lay in the Sepulchre until the resurrection , but his Ghost departing from him was with the Ghosts that were in prison , or in hell , and did preach to the same , as the place of S. Peter doth testifie . Which last clause was left out of the Article in the Review under Queen Elizabeth .

XLI . The Doctrine of Free-Will , and the salvability of the Heathens have been formerly discuss'd , and the Fathers vindicated ; but what error there can be in affirming , that Circumcision is a sign , or note of Baptisme , I cannot see ; since except the Circumcision of the heart , which the Fathers generally speak of , and chastity , and confession of sins , as some of them affirm , there is nothing so properly typified by the legal Circumcision as Baptisme ; this , says a a Contr. Julian . Pelagian lib. 6. cap. 3. S. Austin , no man , that is but ordinarily vers'd in holy Writ will deny , since the Apostle most expresly affirms of Christ , Coloss. 2.10 , 11 , 12. that he is the head of all principalities , and powers , in whom also we are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands — buried with him in baptisme . Now the circumcision made with hands , and which was given unto Abraham , was a similitude of that circumcision not made with hands . And for the truth of this opinion he b b Contr. eund. l. 2. elsewhere quotes S. Cyprian , and S. John Chrysostome ; that the African Primate was of this belief c c Ep. 59. p. 80. his Writings make appear ; and that it was generally so believed , appears by that question , which he solves , why every Infant should not be Baptiz'd , as well as Circumcised the eighth day ; and d d Tom. 1. hom. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . in Genes. p. 323. vide eund. to . 6. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 853. S. Chrysostome calls the laver of Regeneration , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Circumcision , which is conferr'd in Baptism : This also was the Opinion of Origen , S. Basil , Orig. hom. 5. in Josh. to. 1. fol. 154. L. ed. Merlin . Basil . exhort . ad Baptis . init . Naz. tom . 1. Orat. 40. p. 658. Athan. tom. 2. quaest. 38. ad Antioch . p. 345. Gregory Nazianzen , and others , as well as of Athanasius . So that I cannot but wonder at this extravagant Censure ; but all this stir about this dangerous Opinion arises at last , such is Mr. H's unhappiness , from a mistake of Scultetus , out of whom this whole discourse of this Father's failings is transcribed ; for e e Synthes . doct. Athanas . c. 17. p. 157. he makes this to be our Patriarch's Errour , not that the Sacraments of the old Testament were Types of the Sacraments of the new , but that Circumcision , and the Sabbath , &c. did only typifie , but not confer grace , contrary to that of the Apostle , Rom. 4.11 . who calls Circumcision a Seal of the Righteousness of Abraham's Faith .

XLII . That Virginity is an Example of Angelical Purity is plain from that of S. Matthew 22.30 . that the Saints shall be like the Angels , and that explain'd by , they shall neither marry , nor be given in Marriage ; nor was it amiss to say , that they are marryed to Christ who disengage themselves from the World the more readily to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes ; and such admirable chastity cannot fail of getting it self veneration and respect every where , and this may serve to apologize for the excessive praises of Virginity , to which the Ancients every where give an extraordinary Eulogy .

XLIII . The death of this great man happened not an . Chr. 371. as Mr. H. wrongly quotes Baronius , but an. 372. Maii. 2. p. 297. annal. to. 4. an. 372. pag. 33½ . as the Cardinal both in his Martyrology and Annals doth fix it ; and his Festival was celebrated in both Churches on the second of May ; but in the Oriental Churches he had two Holy-days , the last on the 18th of January , ( a Festival dedicated to him and his Successor S. Cyril ) it being the day , as Baronius conjectures , of his Consecration to the Patriarchate of Alexandria ; and in the same celebrated Historian you may find , that his Body was afterward brought into Europe , and deposited at Venice ; he is styled in the Coptick Kalendar , publish'd by a a De Sp●●drio , l. 3. c. 25. p. 398. Mr. Selden , Athanasius the Apostle , by b b Chru●●p 314. cais . Scalig. Nicephorus the Patriarch of Constantinople , Athanasius the Martyr , and to this day by all the Greeks , Athanasius the great .

XLIV . Of this name were many famous men , Prelates of the Church , c c Bas●● 53. & 67. So●on . l. 6. c. 12. Philostorg . l. 5. tem. 1. one a Bishop of Ancyra , a Contemporary with our Patriarch ; the d d Ph●●esiorg . l. 3. tom. 15. p. 50. second an Arian of the same Age , Bishop of Anazarbum , in Cilicia ; a e e Menolog . Cr. A●g . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . third Bishop of Tarsus , a Martyr under the Emperour Valerian ; a f f Ev●gr . hist. lib. 3. c. 23. fourth this eminent Confessor's Successor in his own See , circ. an. 490. ( whose immediate Predecessor was Peter Mongus ) but he was a Heretick , and a great Patron of the Acephali : There were also many others of the name , whom I purposely omit . And having thus tyred my Reader , I leave him to refresh himself with the Panegyrick of the most Eloquent S. Gregory of Nazianzum .

On the great Athanasius Arch-Bishop of Alexandria , Greg. Naz. Tom. 1. Orat. 21. p. 373. &c.

'TO praise Athanasius , is to make a Panegyrick on Virtue ; for when I name that admirable man , it is the same as if I celebrated Virtue ; while a Constellation of those best qualities did shine in him , or to speak more truly , do still exert their Lustre ; for all they that have lived according to the Laws of God , do still live to God , although they have left this evil World . For which reason God is called , the God of Abraham , the God of Isaac , and the God of Jacob , not the God of the dead , but of the living ; and when I write an Encomium of Virtue , I shall magnifie God , whose Donative to the Sons of men Virtue is , that by that congenial light men may be led to the knowledge and embracing of himself . For whereas the largesses of Heaven are many and eminent , and beyond description , the greatest and most merciful of his Favours are the Inclinations which he works in us towards himself , and the Familiarity he blesseth us with . For what the Sun is to sensible Beings , that is God to rational Creatures , the one sheds his Rays on the visible , the other illustrates the invisible world ; the one illuminates the eyes of the body , that it may see Heaven , the other the Opticks of the mind , that it may contemplate God . And as the Sun , whereas it confers on the eyes , and all things visible , powers , that the one may see , the other be seen , while it self is the most beautiful and accomplish'd of visible Objects ; so God , as he gives power to understand , and a possibility of being comprehended , is himself still the chiefest and most perfect of Intellectual Beings , in whom all our desires terminate , and above whom they cannot soare ; for neither can the most Philosophick , aspiring , and curious Intellect aim at any thing more sublime than God ; for he is the choicest of admirable Beings , whom when men enjoy , their Speculations are at their height ; for that man that breaks through his earthly Prison by the assistance of reason and contemplation , and dispelling all carnal Clouds and Mists , can converse with God , and be united to the most illustrious light , as much as humane frailty is capable of , that man is happy , both in that he can ascend to that glorious place , and also there enjoy that Union with the Divine Nature , which true Philosophy procures , and a mind exalted above this inferiour world to the contemplation of the Unity of the Trinity . But he whose Soul is debas'd by its Society with the Body , and is yet immers'd in Clay , so that it cannot look upon the Beauties of Truth , nor exalt it self above earthly things , though its Original were from Heaven , and its Native tendencies thither ; that man is in my esteem blind and miserable , though blest with the affluence of Worldly Felicities ; and so much the more wretched , in that he is mock'd by his prosperity , and deluded into the Opinion , that there can be any thing good besides the chiefest and truest good ; gathering evil Fruit of an evil Sentiment , to be confined to darkness , to feel him as a consuming Fire , whom he would not entertain as a comfortable light . This was the study only of a few of the former Ages , and the present saeculum , ( for there are few Servants of God , though all are his Creatures ) this wisdom being courted by a small company of Law-givers and Captains , Priests , Doctors , and the rest of the Society of Spiritual persons , and among them by this venerable Patriarch , whom we now applaud . And who were those brave Souls ? that excellent man Enoch , and Noe , Abraham , Isaac , Jacob , and the twelve Patriarchs , Moses and Aaron , Joshua and the Judges , Samuel , David , and Solomon for a while , Elias and Elisha , and the Prophets both before the Captivity and after it , and those last in order , but first in eminency , who lived about the time of Christ's Incarnation ; that Torch , that preceeded the true light , that Voice that usher'd in the Word , that Harbinger to the great Mediator of the Old and New Covenant , the Blessed John Baptist , and the Disciples of Christ ; they lastly that after the Ascension of Jesus were Governours in the Church , or were conspicuous by their Doctrine , or famous by Miracles , or perfected by Martyrdom : among these Athanasius challenges a place , some of whom he equalled , to others gave the precedence , and a third sort , if my words be not too confident , he exceeded , imitating the Eloquence of one , the Actions of a second , the Meekness of a third , and a fourth's Zeal , the Combats of another , many things in some , in others all ; and in a third sort some particular Virtue . As he that would limn an exquisite Picture , first draws the several Features in his mind , and then transcribes them into the Table , which he designs a master-piece of Art ; so did he take Transcripts of the Virtues of others , carrying away the palm from the greatest Orators , by his perswasive Actions , and triumphing over the most active men in his Discourses ; or if you would so have it , excelling the most eloquent in his Harangues , and the most expert men in the Charms of Conversation , out-doing all that were but ordinarily furnish'd with either of these qualities , in the transcendency of each peculiar accomplishment , and getting the start of those that were famous for one of these Embellishments , in that he was equally adorn'd with every Grace : and if it were a brave and generous charity in those that preceeded him to leave such accurate patterns of Virtue , is not he as admirable for his design , in affording posterity so reverend an Exemplar ? and perhaps to run through all the particulars of his life will exceed the limits of my time , and look rather like an History than an Encomium ; which out of compassion to Posterity I could wish were done , as he hath written the Life of the divine Antonius , instructing the world in the Laws of a Monastick life , in the account he gives of that Saint's demeanour ; and when I shall have reckoned a few of the more signal of his excellencies , which my memory will supply , that I may gratifie my own inclinations , and comport with the design of the Festival , I will leave the rest to those that are better acquainted with his miraculous Atchievements . For it is neither just nor safe to honour the lives of wicked men with Monuments , and to bury in Oblivion the memories of the just , especially in that City , which more than a few virtuous Examples can hardly rescue from ruine , a City which makes all sacred and divine Offices as ridiculous as the entertainments of Horse-Races , or the Theatre .

‛ His early studies were employed in Divinity , and holy knowledge , after some little acquaintance with humane , and liberal learning , lest he might be altogether an ignaro in those things , which he resolved to despise ; for he could never endure to prostitute , and debase his exalted and generous mind to impertinent trifles , and spend his time like an imprudent combatant , who buffets the air instead of his antagonist , and so loses his crown ; he was conversant above all men with the Old and New Testament , adorning himself with sublime notions , and a beautiful conversation , fastning the links , till they became one gold chain , a task too hard for some persons , making his actions a guide to his contemplation , and his contemplation a seal to his actions . For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , it swaddles and suckles infant prudence , and prudence , when it hath out-gone the limits of fear , and attained to a genuine love , makes us the friends of God , and sons instead of servants . Such was his education , and tutorage , as became one design'd a Bishop and Guide to the mystical body of Christ , according to the great Counsel and foreknowledge of God , which long before lays the foundations of great designs ; and at length is admitted to the Priesthood , and made a member of the College , which make their approaches before God ( that condescends to meet and converse with holy men ) and is dignifyed with sacred orders ; and after he had past thorow all the inferior offices of the Ecclesiastick Ministration , that I may omit minuter circumstances , is made Patriarch of Alexandria , which is the same , as if I had call'd him the Universal , or Oecumenical Bishop . Nor can I determine whether he took the Episcopal Office on him , as a reward of his virtue , or as a charitable act to confer life on the Church . For there was as urgent a necessity of refreshing that Church , which was ready to perish by spiritual thirst , ( the desire of truth ) as of the Angels bringing water to despairing Ishmael , or of Elijah's being cheared by the streams of the brook Cherith , and reviving that expiring Prophet , that a holy seed might be left in Israel ; that we might not be left as Sodom and Gomorrha , whose crimes are notorious , but their punishment more famous , being destroyed by fire and brimstone ; for this reason is a horn of salvation raised for us that were ruined , and a corner stone , that unites us both to himself and each other , is opportunely laid , or a fire is introduc'd , that purges all evil and putrified matter , or the husbandman's Vanne , whereby the chaffe of empty opinions is winnowed from the weighty and substantial truths , or the pruning Knife , which cuts off the roots of iniquity ; thus in him the eternal word met with a defender and assistant , and the holy spirit a servant , that breaths nothing but truth and piety : and on the consideration of these endowments , by the joynt consent of the whole people , not according to the evil custome that afterwards crept into the Church , neither by murder and violence , but after the Apostolical way , and prescriptions of the holy Ghost , is he exalted to the throne of S. Mark , who was as much his successor in merit , as dignity , in time very remote from him , but in virtue , which is properly to be called Succession , he came very near him . For they that profess the same faith , sit in the same throne , but he that is heterodox , hath no right to that holy seat ; the one is a successor in name only , the other in reality ; for he hath not the right of succession , that intrudes himself , but he that is compelled to take on him the Episcopal robes , not he that tramples on all laws , but he that attains the Dignity by a legal election , not he that is a Heretick , but the Orthodox professor of the Catholick faith , unless we call such a man a successor ; as we say a disease succeeds health , and night the brightness of the day , or a tempest a calm , or a fit of frenzy a prudent and setled reason ; and as he was thus regularly made a Bishop , so he also discharged the Office , and managed his Authority ; not being elated and swoln with his prosperity , not indulging to a petulant and morose humour , as a man that hath unexpectedly usurp'd a tyranny , or an inheritance ; this is a mark of spurious and intruding Prelates , that are unworthy of the Title , who bringing nothing with them worthy of the Priesthood , nor ever suffering hardships for the sake of Religion , commence Pupils and Instructors of piety in the same moment , and undertake to purge others , while themselves are worse polluted ; yesterday guilty of Sacriledge , and to day Priests ; yesterday strangers to Religion , and to day dispensers of its Mysteries ; men grown old in vice , but Novices in piety , whose advancement is the effect of humane favour , not of the Spirits designation ; who having managed all their Affairs by violence and force , at last exercise their tyranny on goodness , and Religion it self , whose manners add no credit nor lustre to their Throne , but after a preposterous manner , owe all the reputation of their Morals to their dignity ; who owe God more Sacrifices for their own transgressions , than for the sins of their people , and unavoidably fall into one of these two Crimes , either promiscuously to pardon all irregularities , that their own enormities may not be censured , and so instead of rooting out vice , teach it ; or by the tyranny and rigour of their Censures put a mask on the face of Villany , as if such severe Inquisitors into the faults of others had none of their own that deserved punishment . But neither of these deformities found a place in his soul , his actions were sublime , but his thoughts humble , his virtue such as created reverence and fear in all that approacht him , but his candour and obliging mien such as invited all men , full of meekness , a great stranger to anger , of a compassionate temper , pleasant in his discourses , but more pleasant in his actions , an Angel in his face , but more an Angel in his mind , his reprehensions were mixt with chearfulness , his praises instructive , impairing neither of them by excess , but reproving as a Father , and commending as a Prince , so as the one might not be softned into easiness , nor the other stiffened into rigour , but the one might justly be termed condescension , the other prudence , and both the effects of an extraordinary skill and Wisdom . So managing himself , that the takingness of his demeanour might supersede his Discourses , and the charms of his Rhetorick render his Episcopal Censures useless ; and a moderate infliction of minor penalties protect the denunciation of the fatal Sentence . But why do I undertake to draw a Copy of this brave man ? S. Paul hath prevented me , and done it to the life , partly when he 〈◊〉 our great High-priest , that ascended 〈◊〉 the Heavens , ( for I dare with confidence so to express my self , since the Scripture calls them Christ's , that live according to the Laws of that Saviour ) partly in those Injunctions which he in his Epistle commands Timothy to observe , giving the Character of an excellent Prelate ; for if you compare the prescriptions of the Apostle with the life of this eminent person , as a rule whereby we may judge , you shall evidently discern the exact Correspondence ; let me therefore have your free and brisk assistance in making this Panegyrick ; for the Burden is too heavy for my Shoulders , and I am willing to pretermit very many things , but know not well what to bury in silence , and what peculiar Excellencies to celebrate , for all is wonderful as the parts of that body , where every Member hath its exact Symmetry and Beauty , and every new qualification that occurs seems more venerable than the rest , and would engross my praises .

‛ You therefore that are his Admirers must share his Virtues among you , and strive for mastery in this becoming Combat , Men and Women , young men and Virgins , and with them the gray-headed , Priests and People , Monks and Citizens , the ordinary sort of Christians , and the more exact Followers of Jesus , the men of a contemplative and of an active life ; let the one praise his Zeal in Fastings and Prayers , to which he was so intent , as if he had no body to take notice of , let another extol his frequent watchings , and his unwearyed vigour in singing Hymns to his God . Let one relate his providence , and charity towards the poor , another his opposition to pride , and condescensions to the humble ; let the Virgins celebrate their Bridesman , the married Women their Monitor , the Monks their Encourager , the Citizens their Law-giver , the simple their Guide , the contemplative men their Divine , the chearful their Curb , the distressed their Comforter , the ancient their Staff , the youth their Schoolmaster , the poor their Almoner , and the rich their Steward ; the Widows seem to me to praise their Patron , the Orphans their Father , the indigent their Benefactor , Strangers their Entertainer , the Brethren a lover of the Fraternity , the sick their Physician , whatever Distemper seizes them , or Medicine they want ; the sound the preserver of their health : every man must applaud him , that became all things to all men , that he might save all , or the greatest part of Mankind . These things , as I have said , let others admire and magnifie who have leisure enough to be transported with little things ; but when I call these things little , I do it only with respect to his other Excellencies , comparing him with himself , and one of his Virtues with another , ( for the Scripture tells us , 2 Cor. 3.10 . that that which is made glorious , though in it self illustrious , hath no glory , by reason of the glory that excelleth ) otherwise a very few of such Endowments are sufficient to encline all men to pay him his due tribute of Veneration ; but his peculiar Accomplishments are to be the subject of this Oration , while it becomes not us to leave the word and descend to the Ministry of minute things ; it being the effect of the Divine Assistance , who hath furnish'd me with these Abilities , if we speak any thing that is equivalent to the sublimity of his eloquence , or the grandeur of his mind .

‛ The days were when the Affairs of Christianity thrived and flourish'd , when this superfluous artificial way of Rhetoricating in matters of Divinity , was unknown , and a stranger , when the introducing of any Novel , or curious question concerning God into the Church , was made a Crime equal to the admission of a Stage-player into that sacred place with his mimick and lascivious Gestures , or a Cheat to impose on the eyes of the Spectators by his agility and skill in shifting his Counters , when the honest simplicity of a plain and ingenuous Discourse was accounted an infallible specimen of a pious Soul . But after the Scepticks ( the Sexti , and Pyrrho's ) and an itch of Contradiction , like a desperate and catching Disease crept into the Church , and a trifling humour was accounted solid learning , and what the Book of the Acts impeaches the Athenians of , was applicable to the Christian World , that they had no leasure for any thing , but to hear or talk News , what holy Jeremy can sufficiently bemoan our confusions , and horrid obscurities , though he alone knew how to suit his Lamentations to so dismal an occasion ?

‛ This furious and insolent Assault on the Church was first made by Arius , whose name implies his madness , who suffered the just punishment of his petulant and ungovern'd Tongue , dying in an impure and stinking place , bursting asunder like Judas , and being a Sufferer like that Traytor , as he had sin'd like him , in betraying the eternal Word : but this did not affright others from courting the same distemper , who methodiz'd and form'd it into an art of Impiety , who deny any thing of generation to appertain to the Divinity , and banish from it the very names of being begotten , or proceeding , honouring the Trinity only with the Communication of the Divine name to all the three persons , and hardly allowing them that . But this blest Soul , this zealous man of God , and great Trumpet of the Truth , thought not so ; but foreseeing that this lessening of the Trinity into one person was a piece of the Atheism and Heresie of Sabellius , who first invented this Scheme of contracting the Deity , and that the distinguishing and dividing the substance , was to make a Monster of the Divinity , he kept this course carefully to assert the Unity with respect to the Divinity , and piously to teach the Trinity of persons with respect to their properties , neither confounding the persons by asserting the Unity , nor dividing the substance by asserting the Trinity , keeping himself still within the limits of Piety , and shunning any extravagant inclinations to either side ; and for this reason he in the holy Synod of Nice , in that Assembly of choice men , which the holy Ghost had there congregated , as much as in him lay , opposed the growth of this disease , when as yet he was no Bishop , but one of their principal Assistants ; for at that time Virtue made a man as honourable as a Dignity ; but when this Spark was blown up into a great flame by the breath of Satan , and spread it self far , ( for here the Tragedy began , that hath since fill'd the World ) many and various Engines were employed to ruine this great Assertor , this generous Champion of Jesus ; ( for the strongest Souldiers are made Aggressors of him , that most couragiously resists ) and on every side dangers flow in upon him , ( for wickedness is very inventive of mischief , and daring in its assaults ; for how could it be expected that they should be favourable to men that durst abuse their God ? ) but there was one effect of their animosity that produc'd the most violent Consequences , for I my self shall contribute a few materials to the compleating the Drama . But here my Country , the beloved place of my Nativity , merits pardon ; for the Crime is not imputable to the place , but to the Inhabitants ; for Cappadocia is every where famous for Holiness and Religion , but these men are unworthy the name of Sons of the Church ; but ye have heard , that a Bramble grows at the root of a Vine , and that Judas the Traytor was one of the Disciples ; nor are there wanting , that affirm , that a Namesake of mine was not altogether innocent in this Affair , who being at that time resident at Alexandria on the account of his studies , and treated with as much kindness by this Patriarch , as if he had been his darling Son , in as much as he was one to whom he intrusted his greatest concerns , he , as it is reported , takes up resolutions of resisting his Father and Benefactor . And whereas others were the Authors of the Tragedy , yet men say , that the hand of Absolom was with them ; if any of you remember that hand , with the cutting off of which this Saint was belyed , or the dead man , yet living , whom he was said to murder , or his unjust banishment , he understands what I say . But this I willingly forget , for this is my judgment in dubious things , to be more inclinable to a charitable construction , and rather to absolve than condemn a Criminal . For a profligate man is easily induc'd to condemn the innocent , but the good not so apt to censure the Villain ; for he that is not vicious is not suspicious of others ; but what I now speak of is not rumour , but palpable matter , not a bare suspicion , but a firm and publick perswasion . A Cappadocian Monstre , born in the utmost Borders of our Country , of a scandalous Family , and a worse mind , no Freeman born , but of a mixt Generation , as Mules are ; at first a Servant at another mans Table , a Wretch , that might be hired for a Crust of Bread , inclinable to say or do any thing to fill his Belly , afterward , when he perniciously intruded himself into employment in the Common-wealth , he was intrusted with the mean and most sordid Office of a Sutler , to supply the Army with Swines flesh ; in which when he had broken his trust , ( sacrificing all things to his own Belly ) and had nothing left him but himself , he bethinks him of running away , and shifting from one Country and City to another , ( as Vagrants do ) at last to the ruine of the Churches Interests , like one of the Plagues of Aegypt , he wanders into Alexandria , here he ends his Exile , and begins mischief , being eminent in nothing else , neither for his learning , nor acceptable and pleasant Converse , much less for putting on the Mask of Piety and Religion , but fitted for all sort of Villany and Disturbances . Ye all know what Tumults he raised against this Saint , for the Righteous are many times delivered into the hand of the Ungodly , not to create honour to the Wicked , but to experiment the courage of the good man , that the Sinner may dye an evil and unusual death , as the Scripture assures us , but holy men are in this life derided , as long as God hides his Countenance , while there are laid up great Treasures for both against those future days , when every Word , Deed and Thought shall be weighed in the just Balance of God , when he shall arise to judge the Earth , recollecting mens Designs and Actions , and detecting those secrets which have been laid up and sealed in Heaven . This both the the Sufferings and the Discourses of Job may perswade us , who was a great lover of truth , a man unblameable , just , and pious , and Master of many other Virtues , as holy Writ testifies : and yet was he assaulted with such various and cruel Instruments of Satan's Malice that had begg'd liberty to plague him , that of all the men which since the beginning of the World have fallen into Adversity , and many as it is probable into Torments and Vexations , no man yet can compare Sufferings with him ; for he lost not only his Wealth and Cattel , a beautiful and numerous progeny , which all men earnestly covet , and that in so short a space that there was no more left for his sorrows to interpose between his last and the next Afflictions , but in the end was smitten in his body with an uncurable & frightful disease , and to make his griefs insufferable , must endure the bitter and wretched Consolations of his Wife , whose great business it was to wound his Soul proportionable to the Inflictions of his Body ; moreover his best Friends were , as he says , miserable Comforters , who when they saw his griefs , but understood not the mystery of Providence , thought his punishment not a Tryal of his Virtue , but Vengeance on his Crimes , and this they not only thought , but never blush'd openly and severely to reprove him for it ' and that so unseasonably , that had he been plagued for his Offences , there was more need to smooth and alleviate his sadnesses by comfortable Discourses : In this condition was Job , and these were some of the first Dispensations of Providence towards him , there was a Combate between Virtue , and Envy ; the evil spirit striving to overcome all that was good in him , and his Piety exerting it self to preserve its Rights inviolable ; Satan endeavouring to smooth the way to Vice by the punishments of the just Virtue , that its Followers might retain their Integrity , and triumph over their Calamities . But what all this while did he , that gave him Oracles from the whirl-wind and the Clouds , who is slow to wrath , but earnest to be compassionate , who does not suffer the rod of the Wicked always to rest on the lot of the Righteous , lest the Righteous learn Iniquity ? In the end of his Engagements God with a loud Voice pronounces him a Conquerour , and discloses the Mystery of his Chastisement . Thinkest thou , O my Servant , that I had any other intentions than that thy Righteousness should be made manifest ? This is a Plaister for thy Wounds , a Crown for thy Combats , a Recompence for thy Patience . For what followed was perhaps inconsiderable , though they seem great Blessings to some , and design'd to satisfie the Ambition of men of narrow Souls , when he received double for whatsoever he had lost . Nor is it therefore so very wonderful , that George the Usurper should fare better than Athanasius . But this would have been a greater miracle , if this good and just man had never been tryed in this fire of afflictions , nor is this so prodigious , had not his tryals been of so long a continuance ; he went into banishment from this place , and ordered the affairs of his exile with an admirable decorum ; for he confin'd himself to the godly Monasteries of Aegypt ; where the holy men weaning themselves from the world , and falling in love with a desart enjoy a more intimate familiarity with God , than those , that are turmoiled with the affairs of this life ; some turning Hermits , living remote from all Society , and conversing only with themselves , and God , and claiming acquaintance with no other part of the habitable world , but their cell ; others living in charitable fraternities , are both Anchorets , and Fryars , dead to all other men , and concernments , which in the midst of the world both create , and suffer disturbances , and by their often changings cheat , and trepan us , while their Monastery is the world to them , in which they provoke each other to virtue by a holy emulation . With these good souls this great person conversing , as he was the great Mediator and Reconciler of all other Controversies , imitating him that by his blood made peace , and united those that were opposite ; so he reconciled the solitary life with the sociable , manifesting that the Priesthood was a friend to true Philosophy , and that the study of wisdom wanted the inspection of the Prelate . So he harmoniously cemented both sorts of life , coupling a contemplative activeness with practical meditations , to perswade men that a Monastick life doth more consist in the gravity of mens manners , than the retirements of the outward man . Of which opinion was David , that man of great Employments , yet much a lover of solitude , if the assertion of his be demonstrative and credible , † † Ps. 141.10 . sec. Sep●●ag . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . I live retired until the day I must go hence . For this reason they that excelled others in virtue , were so much the easier conquered by his reasons , by how much they out-went others ; and they that contributed a few ordinary endowments to fit them for the perfection of the Priesthood , were recompenc'd with greater abilities to make accomplisht Monks . What he advised them became a Law , what he forbad them was execrable ; his assertions were like the Tables of Moses , and the reverence paid him greater than what is due to the Saints . For when some rude Villains hunted after this holy man , as after a wild beast , and could no where find him , these Asceticks would not vouchsafe to speak to them , but stretched out their necks to the Souldiers Swords , as if they were in jeopardy for the sake of Christ , reckoning if they could suffer any thing for the preservation of so good a man , that it would be of great weight to beautifie their Philosophick Profession , and more sublime and extraordinary , than all their fasts and humicubations , and other acts of mortification , which were their delicacies . Among these men did our Patriarch lead his life , and experimented the truth of that passage of Solomon , that every thing hath its season ; for this reason he conceal'd himself for a while , as one that fled from the face of an Enemy and a furious War , that he might appear with the greater splendour in the season of peace , which a little afterward happened ; but the factious Pseudo-Patriarch , by reason of this long retirement of Athanasius , runs through all Egypt , and acted by the violences of his impious mind , makes his thievish Incursions into Syria , and ravages as much of the East as was possible , setting upon the infirm and weaker brethren , the inconsiderate and the dull , as a torrent carries with it all that it can sweep away , imposing upon the simplicity of the Emperour , for my reverence for his sacred Character forbids me to call it levity , ( for to say the truth , he was very zealous , but not according to knowledge ) he next purchases the favours of the Courtiers , men that loved money beyond Christ ( for the Goods of the poor were his bank and treasure , imployed to wicked and unlawful purposes ) and among them the effeminate , and the Eunuchs , men that are no men , whose Sex is doubtful , but profligate manners most notorious , who being deputed primarily to the oversight and custody of Women , it is a wonder to me how the Roman Emperours ever concerned them in any masculine Employments . So prevalent was this Servant of the Devil , this Seedsman of Tares , this Harbinger of Antichrist , employing for this purpose the tongue of the most eloquent of the Bishops of that time ( if I may so call him , who was not so much an Heretick , as an envious and ambitious man : for I shall willingly conceal his name ) but he stood instead of the hand , and was the Leader of the Faction , seeking the overthrow of the truth , by the prevalence of his money , which being collected for the advancement of the interests of Religion , was by this evil man made an instrument to promote impiety . A great instance of this prevalence was that Council which was first assembled at Seleucia , famous for the Church of the holy Virgin Thecla , and afterward sat in this great City , which Cities having been eminent for the brave things that had been done there , were now as memorable for this infamous Conventicle , whether you will call it the Tower of Babel , where God divided the Tongues of the Builders , ( as I wish he had divided these ) or the Sanhedrim of Caiaphas , in which Christ is condemned , or by what other name we may call the Meeting , which overturned and confounded all things , abrogating the holy and primitive Dogma , that confesseth the Trinity , using all its art and force , power and stratagems to stifle the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or consubstantial , and opening a door to all sort of impiety , by the ambiguity of the terms of their Confession , out of a seeming respect to holy Writ , and a pretence to use no terms but what are there allowed , but in truth substituting Arianism , that contradicted Scripture . For this sentence ( that the Son of God was like the Father according to the Scriptures ) was only a bait to the weaker sort of Christians , covering the Hook of Heresie , a Picture that lookt on all that past by it , a Shoe that would fit either foot , a Vanne turned with every wind , a new invented Engine to the supplanting of the truth , acted and set on motion by Authority : For they were wise to do evil , but to do good had no knowledge ; hence proceeded their cunning condemnation of Hereticks , whom in their words they proscrib'd the Church , that their designs might look more plausibly , but by their actions introduc'd , reproving them not for any heterodoxy in opinion , but immoderate passion and love of contention . Hence Lay-men became Judges of those in holy Orders , and a new mixture happen'd , the most mysterious Doctrines of Religion disputed before the multitude , and an unlawful enquiry into Affairs , Sycophants hired , and sentence on the premises denounc'd . Thus many Prelates were unjustly dethron'd , others substitated , but on no other terms , but that they should subscribe to the Arian impiety , as they ought to all things else necessarily previous to their Instalment ; the Pen and Ink was at hand , and an Accuser at their back ; this betrayed many of the Orthodox , men otherwise of invincible constancy , who erred in their subscriptions , though their Opinions were Catholick , and gave their consent to the proceedings of those men , who on both accounts were wicked , and though they kept themselves from falling into the fire , could not escape being sullied with the smoak ; this I have often lamented , when I observed how Heresie diffus'd it self , and the Orthodox Doctrine was persecuted by the great Patrons of Christ's Divinity ; verily the Pastors have done foolishly , as it is written , and have destroyed my Vineyard , and dishonoured the pleasant portion , that is , the Church of God , consecrated with much sweat , and many martyred ones both before and after Christ , and by the great sufferings of God for us . For except a few persons , who for their meanness were contemptible , or their courage lookt on as Enemies ( who it was necessary should be left as a root and seed to Israel , that by the influences of the Spirit that might flourish a-new and recover ) all others complyed with the time , only with this difference , that some were sooner , some later trepan'd ; some were Leaders and Heads of Parties in this Faction , others of an inferiour rank , who either were betrayed by their fear , or captivated by covetousness , or allured by pleasures , or imposed on by ignorance , which was the most modest plea. If that may seem to be sufficient to apologize for such men , who take on them the Instruction and Government of the people . For as the motions of Lions and other Beasts , of men and women , of old and young men are not the same , but there is no small difference in Ages and Sexes ; so neither are the inclinations the same of Rulers and their Subjects ; for the vulgus that so complyed are to be pardoned , who are indispos'd to curiosity , but how shall we concede such failures to their Teachers , who , unless they usurp that name , ought to correct and illuminate the ignorance of their Followers ? For if not the most illiterate and rustick person can safely be ignorant of the Roman Laws , nor is there any excuse allowed for them that transgress through want of knowledge , is it not an absurd thing , that the Teachers of the Laws of Heaven should be ignorant of the Principles of Salvation , although in other things they may be allowed to have less skill and insight ? But grant it that they shall be pardoned that erre for want of knowledge , what shall we say of others , who laying claim to wit and acumen , yet for the causes formerly mentioned , have submitted to those Hereticks that had usurpt a power ; and whereas for a while they were the Mask of Piety , as soon as there appeared any thing of reprehension , easily laid it aside ? I hear the Scripture affirm , that heaven and earth shall yet once be shaken , as if they had suffered those tremblings before , intimating some notable change and alteration of things ; and we must believe S. Paul , that the last and final earthquake shall be no other , but the second coming of Christ , the mutation of the universe , and translation of it into that which defies change , and motion . But I suppose the Earthquake , that in this age broke forth , was not less furious , than any of the former , by reason of which all the lovers of God , and Religion , and those who before this time had their conversation wholly in heaven , were shaken , who although in every other thing they are mild , and peaceable , now could not endure to be moderate , and to betray the cause of God by their silence , but in this case are egregious combatants , and lovers of contention ( for such is the heat of Zeal ) and ready rather to over-do some things , than leave any thing material undone , by the same violence no small part of the people were distracted , as in a flock of birds taking their flight with those in the front , and not yet ceasing to employ their wings .

‛ Such a comfort was Athanasius to us , as long as that Pillar of the Church continued among us , and so great a cause of sorrow , when the Contrivances of vile men forc'd him hence : For as those that design to storm a strong Castle , when they find the place otherwise unapproachable and hard to be taken , make use of cunning where strength fails , alluring the Governour with Money , or some other piece of subtilty , and so with ease master the Cittadel ; or if you will , as they , that did lye in wait for Sampson , first cut off his Hair , in which his strength lay , and then took Prisoner that Judge of the Israelites , sporting with him as they pleased , in requital of the effects of his former courage : So did our Philistims , having laid Chains on the strength , and cut off the Glory of the Church , wallow in the pleasures of their impious Opinions and Actions . At this time Constantius the great Patron and Upholder of the Pseudo-Patriarch , dyes , putting an evil end to his Raign that was not altogether evil , and to no purpose repenting , as it is reported , when he drew his last breath , ( for then every man is an exact Judge of himself by reason of the Tribunal he is going before ) : he is said to have been sorry for three things , that did misbecome his Grandeur , the murther of his Relations , the appointing the Apostate his Successor , and the countenancing Novelties of Faith , and with these words it is said that he exspired his last breath . After which the truth recovered its lost Authority , and those that were its Confessors their liberty , their Zeal giving an edge to their Indignation ; this also happened to the people of Alexandria ( as an inraged populace uses to be transported against their Injurers ) who not being able to suffer the immoderate Extravagancies of the Usurper , for this reason publickly expiated his Villanies by a strange death , and a new method of Revenge . Ye well remember the Camel on which he was laid , and its new fashion'd burthen odly exalted , together with the first , and I think the only procession which it went , a way of revenge at this day threatned to injurious persons . But after this whirl-wind of Injustice , this Corrupter of Piety , this Fore-runner of the Devil was thus slain , though unjustly ( for we ought to consider , not what he deserved to suffer , but what we should do , but he was punish'd , and became the Object of the Epidemick fury ) this generous Champion return'd from his famous Exile ( for so I must call his flight for and with the Trinity ) and finds the Citizens so chearful and joyed at his appearance , and in truth all Aegypt gathered into that one place , that some were satisfyed only with seeing Athanasius , others with hearing his Voice , others ( as it was said of the Apostles ) were sanctifyed with his shadow only , and this new Image of him ; so that whereas many heretofore both Princes and Priests , and other eminent men , have been met with much honour , yet no man with more splendor and a greater Company than Athanasius , and only the Prelate , and his former return from a like flight , and for a like cause can parallel it ; for so the report runs of that Parade , for I will relate it , though it seem superfluous , that it may give a gusto , and relish , and additional beauty to my Panegyrick . After this return of the Patriarch , one of the State-Officers made his Entry ( he was my Countryman , a Cappadocian , a man of eminent Birth , and I presume you know that I mean Philagrius ) the love of the Citizens towards him was without comparison , and the honour they did him proportionable to their love for him ( that I may say all in a few words ) on whom the command of the City was a second time conferred by the concurrent suffrage of the Alexandrians , and the choice of the Emperour ; at that time one of the populace admiring the infinite multitudes of people , as if it had been a vast Sea of men , is reported thus to have accosted one of his Acquaintance as is usual on such occasions ; Tell me , my best friend , didst ever see such a vast quantity of people , and so unanimous , gathered together for the honour of one man ? By no means , said the young man , I do not believe that the Emperour Constantius was received with so much state ; as if he thought nothing could be mentioned higher than that ; to whom the other smilingly , Dost thou reckon that as a great and wonderful thing ? I can hardly believe that the great Athanasius was so received , and presently he subjoyns an Oath to confirm it . His discourse tending , as it seems plain to me , to prefer this celebrated man to the Emperour : So great was the veneration which all men paid him , and with such wonder do men still make reflections on his Restauration . For the whole City like a large River went out to meet him , ( as the Alexandrians are accustomed , when they design to honour any person . And how shall I relate the pomp of this Spectacle ? a Poet would say , that Nilus that golden stream'd and fertile River run backward from the City to Chaereum , by the space of a days Journey , and more . Give me leave therefore to indulge and solace my self with the Narration ; for I am bent upon it , nor is it easie to divert my Speech to any other Object from this Solemnity . He rid on a Colt , ( pardon the boldness of the Comparison ) as my Jesus entred Jerusalem , riding on the Foal of an Ass : whether we shall understand by it the Gentile World on which he ascended having delivered it from the Chains of Ignorance , or any other thing be intimated in that Figure . There was only this difference , that the Boughs and the various and exquisite Garments were spread in the way of Christ , but no such preparation was made for this sublime and precious Prelate , who in that one particular was less honour'd than his Master . This his return to the Metropolis of Aegypt was an exact picture of Christ's entry into the holy City ; in that many went before him and shouted and leap'd for joy ; not only a Troop of Children that sang his Encomia , but the Tongues of both his Friends and Enemies strove to out-do one another in his praise . I omit the publick applause , and the profuse Expences of Unguents and Perfumes , the multitude of Torches that shed their lustre on the whole City , the publick and private Banquets , and every other specimen of that Solemnity , 〈…〉 trans●●ndently and above belief 〈…〉 him ; with this Pomp and At 〈…〉 adm●●able person enter 〈…〉 . But perchance all this 〈…〉 , and a politick and crafty 〈…〉 of his Affairs , as became a man who pr●●sided over such a multitude , but either his Doctrine was not suitable to his ●if● , o● his undertakings a Contradiction to his Assertions , or his sufferings were inconsiderable incomparison to the difficulties that others underwent for the sake of the Truth and Orthodoxy , or his Rewards are unproportioned to his Deserts , or after his entry he demeaned himself unworthily , and by his future Actions cast opprobrium on his Admission ; by no means ; all his Actions were of a piece , and suitable , all Harmonious as the strings of a Lute , his Life , his Doctrine , his Combats , his Streights , what preceeded , and what was consequent to his Admission . For as soon as he undertakes the Tuition of the Church , he is not transported as those that are blinded with Anger and unruly passion , who strike what first comes in their way , though never so undeserving such harsh treatment ; their fury Lording it over their Reasons ; but imagining with himself , that this Season was most advantagious to promote his honour , ( because for the most part , he that suffers is more patient , while he that does the injury , is insolent ) with so debonaire and meek carriage did he demean himself towards the great fomenters of his sorrows , that his restoration was not unacceptable even to them . He purges the Temple by driving out all Sacrilegious Abusers of Religion , that prostituted the name of God , and Christ to their profit , that in this also he might imitate his Saviour ; only he omitted the whip of Cords , and substituted in the place thereof Perswasives and Demonstrations . He cements all breaches among those that were at enmity with him , or among themselves , needing no other assistances but his own ; he delivers the afflicted from Tyranny , making no distinction between them of his own and the adverse party . He lifts out of the dust , and restores to its honour the truth that had been trampled on , and now the Doctrine of the Trinity is boldly asserted , and the light is set on a Candlestick , that by the bright rays of the Unity of the Godhead , it might illuminate all mens Souls : now he again makes Laws for the World , and enclines all mens minds to himself , writing to some , calling others , and instructing a third sort that were never sent for , obliging no man to any other restraint , but to be willing ; for this one thing was sufficient to direct them to the Paths of Virtue . In short , he imitated the qualities of two famous stones ; to those that abused him he was an Adamant , to the contentious and quarrelsome a Loadstone , which by a miraculous quality draws Iron the hardest of things to its self ; but it was impossible that envy should endure this , or suffer tamely the restitution of the Church to her pristine beauty and health , the dissenting Members thereof being reunited , as the Wounds of a Body that hath been mangled are closed up again . To this end the Father of malice incensed against him the Emperour , who was the Fiend's Fellow Apostate , who ( though his junior in time , was his equal in mischief , the first of all Christian Princes that was inraged against Christ , suddenly introducing that wicked Cockatrice , which long before had been brought forth and cherish'd by him , as soon as a fit opportunity offered , and he was invested with the Empire ) became ungrateful to that Soveraign that intrusted him with the Regalia , and abundantly more rebellious against God his Saviour , and begins a persecution more fatal than all that had preceeded it , intermixing perswasives with his threats , ( for he envyed the Martyrs the honour of their sufferings ) called in question the Trophies of their courage , using all sort of Sophistry and little arts in his Discourses , and allowing them to superintend his manners , or to speak a plainer truth , being inclined by his own perverse habit of mind to such Villanies , imitating the cunning and artifice of that Demon that possest him ; he accounted it but a poor Conquest to triumph over the whole Family of Christ , but look'd on the subduing Athanasius , and stifling his undertakings in the behalf of the truth , as a great Victory ; for he saw that none of his Designs against the Christians were crowned with success , as long as Athanasius opposed him , for the places of as many as deserted Religion were supplyed by his prudence with new Gentile Proselytes , which was very miraculous . Which when that crafty Impostor and Persecutor understood , he no longer keeps on his Masque of servile dissimulation , but making publick his rancor , openly expels this great man the City ; for it became this generous Combatant to be thrice Victorious , that his rewards might be perfect ; a small time after the Divine Justice hurryed this sacrilegious person into Persia , and there punish'd him ; and having permitted him to go forth , a Prince eagerly ambitious of renown , return'd him dead without the least sign of pity or sorrow ; and , as I have heard , without the honour of Sepulture , his body being toss'd up and down by the fury of an Earthquake , that then happened as a punishment for his Crimes , the Prologue , as I suppose , to his future Tragedy ; but another Emperour succeeds him of a modest Countenance , and a stranger to the Apostates Impudence , one that never opprest Israel by his own or his Followers evil Actions , but was incomparably pious and mild , who , that he might settle his Empire on the best Foundation , and begin his Raign with the establishing excellent Laws , recalls all the banish'd Prelates , and above all him , that out-shone them in Virtue , and undoubtedly was a Sufferer for Godliness ; he enquires after the true and Orthodox Faith , that had been by many torn in pieces and mangled , and distracted into many novel Opinions , that if it were possible the whole World might be united in the same harmonious profession , by the cooperation of the holy spirit ; if not , he might joyn himself to the Catholick Party , and reciprocally give it assistance , and receive help from it , entertaining himself with high and exceeding venerable thoughts of such Mysteries . And here did this Sage-man give a Specimen of his purity and constancy in the Faith of Christ ; for whereas other Professors were divided into three several Factions , many being Unorthodox in their Sentiments of the Son of God , and more in their Opinions of the holy Ghost ( where to be a puny Transgressor was accounted a mark of Piety ) and only a few were in every thing sound Catholicks , he chiefly , and alone , or with a few Followers openly and in the Face of the World is a confident Assertor of the truth , confessing in his Writings the Divinity and Essence of the three persons , and in that God head which in times past was by the many Fathers adjusted to the Son , was the holy spirit reinvested by this inspired Patriarch , who tendred a truly royal and magnificent present to the Emperour , an Orthodox Creed in opposition to the Heretical Novelties that had no basis in Scripture , that one Emperour might countermine another , one Doctrine invalidate another , one Writing supersede another ; to this Confession of Faith both the Eastern and Western Catholicks seem to me to pay a submissive deference and veneration ; for some men , if we may believe their Affirmations , are Orthodox only in their minds , but they imprison their Sentiments , and conceal them from the view of the World , as a dead Child that hath lost its life in the Womb ; others in a small measure manifest their belief like the blaze of a Spark , that they may humour the time and please the warmer and devouter sort of Christians ; others are publick Assertors of the truth , and not ashamed of their profession , of which Party I am willing to be ( for I dare not boast of any thing higher than this ) not so much as intending to skreen my fearfulness behind the weakness of those that have been more timerous , ( for we have been evil Stewards of Heavens Mysteries , not only not gaining some additional increase to our Talents , but prodigally melting down our first stock , which is the Character of a careless Servant ) but to introduce this my off-spring into the light to mature its growth with speed , and render it to the eyes of all men exquisitely accomplish'd ; but this was one of the meanest of his admirable Atchievements , for if he exposed himself to actual dangers for the sake of the truth , what wonder was it that he should vindicate it in his writings ? But I will add one thing to my former Relation , which I above all things revere in him , and which I cannot without injuring you pass by , at this time especially , which is a time of Schisms and Contentions ; for this action of his ought to be an instruction to us , that now are alive , if we seriously weigh it ; for as when one thrusts his hand into the water , he not only separates between the water that is left , but between what he grasps in his hands , and runs between his fingers : So we divide not only from all impiety , but from the eminently godly , not in small , and impertinent , and contemptible opinions , ( for this were more tolerable ) but in words , that tend to one , and the same sense ; for whereas we piously assert one essence , and three hypostases , the one describing the nature of the Godhead , the other the properties of the Trinity , ( as also do the Italians , only by reason of the barrenness of their language not able to distinguish the hypostasis from the essence , lest they might seem to admit three substances , they substitute in the name of three hypostases three persons ) what happened ? something very ridiculous , or rather lamentable . This little difference in words made a noise as if there had been difference in opinion ; hence the Heresie of Sabellius took its rise because of the distinction of the three persons , and Arianisme because of the three hypostases , both being the rude off-spring of a pertinacious love of contention . And what succeeded ? this small distinction being establish'd , and grating on some mens minds , ( and what made it distasteful was a love of quarelling ) the ends of the earth were in danger to be ruin'd by a few syllables ; which when this bless'd Saint , this true man of God , and great guide of souls both saw , and heard , he could not endure to slight and neglect so absurd and unreasonable a distinction , but applyed a remedy to the distemper ; and how did he make his application ? having convened both parties with all meekness and humility , and accurately weighed the intention of the words , after he found them agreeing in the things themselves , and not in the least differing in matters of doctrine , allowing them the variety of names , he tyed them to unity of sentiments ; this was a more advantagious act of charity to the Church , than all his other daily labours and discourses , which all men celebrate , in which there may be intermixt some love of applause , and for that reason some innovation made in the Faith . This was more honorable , than all his watchings , and humicubations , the benefits of which are confined to the particular practisers of those virtues ; nay it is nothing inferior to his applauded flights , and exiles ; for after his sufferings he pursued those things , for which he chose to undertake such calamities ; and this also was his design on others , praising some , moderately correcting others , useing the spur to some dull tempers , and the reins to other hot spirits , infinitely careful , that the offenders might repent , and those that were innocent might be kept from falling ; in his conversation master of the greatest simplicity , in his government of the greatest variety of skill , wise in his discourses , but much wiser in his intellect , to the mean capacities he stoop'd himself , to the more acute his notions and words were more sublime , * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . A lover of strangers , and advocate for the oppressed , and a defender from danger ; he was in truth all those things which the Heathens parcel out among their Gods ; I will call him * * 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. the Patron of Marriage , and the Friend of Virgins , the Peace-maker , and Reconciler , and the guide to those who are going out of this life . How many brave characters and qualities does the virtue of this Man afford me , should I describe all ? when he had so lived , was so instructed , and so carefully had disciplined others , that his life and demeanor was an exact pattern , how a Bishop should have his conversation , and his opinions the rule of Orthodoxy , what reward did he reap of this piety ? for neither is this negligently to be past by ; he dies in a good old age , and is gathered to his Fathers , the Patriarchs , and Prophets , and Martyrs , that combated for the truth , and that I may give him a short Epitaph , his Exit out of the World , was more honorable and decorous , than his return into his City from Banishment , his Death was attended with an Universal Mourning , and the thoughts that all men entertain'd themselves with of his worth , out-went all that may be seen . But thou , O beloved , and happy Man , who among thy many other virtues , didst exquisitely understand the seasons and measures of Speech , and Silence , do thou here put a period to my Oration , which though it fall short of the truth , and thy worth , is yet proportionable to my weak abilities , and look down propitiously on us from above , and guide this people , that are perfect adorers of the perfect Trinity , which is contemplated , and worship'd in the Father , Son , and holy Spirit , protect me , and help feed my Flock , if peaceable and serene days attend me , but if War and confusion , reduce , and assume me to a station with thy self , and those that are like thee ( though it be no ordinary thing that I beg ) for the sake of Christ our Lord , to whom be all glory , honor , and dominion for ever . Amen .

THE LIFE OF S. Hilary OF POICTIERS .

I. IT is Mr. H.'s usual unhappiness in this his View to contradict himself , while with more diligence , than judgment , he hath collected whatever scattered Memoires had relation to his subject , without that severe examination , that became an Historian , whether all the particulars were reconcileable to the laws of time , and truth . Of this we have a pregnant instance in §. 1. p. 396. where out of a a Chronic. part. 2 c. 3. p. 54. Antoninus we are entertain'd with a pleasant story of an Imaginary Council at Rome under a Pope Leo , that never was , which he that list , may read at large in that Historian . Who having recited the particulars out of Vincentius his Speculum , and Jacobus de Voragine , acknowledges them to be dubious , and are indeed no way reconcileable to truth , unless we create an Antipope at that time , called Leo , or assert , that Pope Liberius had two names , whereof one was Leo , both which are equally improbable ; for there is not a word to this purpose in the antient Church-Historians , who are so copious in their accounts of the Arian Synods , no not in Philostorgius their own Historian , who not caring to falsifie the Records of the Catholick Church , would certainly never have stifled so remarkable a transaction , had there been but the least shadow of truth to countenance it .

II. Nor is the same argument deduc'd from Chronology but very prevalent with Mr. H. p. 405. to engage him to disown the Poem called Genesis , because dedicated to Pope Leo , the first of which name , he tells us , sate in that See not till An. 440. But this is not the first place , where Mr. H. unfortunately contradicts himself , who being so hot an Aristarchus in his censures of the Fathers , is here wheadled by one of the Phantastick adventures of the Legend ; nor was this the first time this Father was so served , b b Apolog. pro Origen . inter oper. Hieron . to . 4. p. 251. Ruffinus broaching a tale somewhat like this , That whereas his Book had been clancularly falsified by the Arians after the Convention at Ariminum , and himself in a Synod of Bishops was examined concerning his opinion , being willing to be tryed by his own Book , what his Faith was , the falsified copy was produc'd , and the Father excommunicated . And c c Tom. 2. Apol. 2. adv. Ruffin . p. 224. S. Hieromes answer to that dream of Ruffinus will serve for both stories , Tell me where this Council was held , when , and under what Emperor ? who were the Consuls that year , and who among the Prelates gave their Votes for his Condemnation , and who opposed it ?

III. Nor is Mr. H.'s superstructure on this fiction any firmer , than its foundation , that S. Hilary was not Gallus , but de Gallia , because born in Aquitain , which Country , says Julius Caesar , was distinct from that part of France , which was properly called Gallia , or Gallia Celtica , as Mr. H. affirms , but in truth wrongly ; for the Province of Poictou in Julius Caesars account was a part of Gallia propriè dicta , which being inhabited by the Celtae , was divided from Aquitain by the River la Garonne , and from the Belgae by the Seine , and la Marne . For France having been divided into the Asiatick , which is Galatia , and the European , and this last into Cispadana , called Gallia Togata , and Transpadana , the later was divided into Gallia Bracchata , or Narbonensis and Comata ; this Gallia Comata was by Julius Caesar first among the Latines divided into Gallia Celtica [ called afterwards Lugdunensis ] Aquitanica , and Belgica [ though some think , that this was the division of the antient Greeks , from whom Caesar had it ] but there being too great inequality in that division , the whole Province of Aquitain containing little more than that Country which the French now call Gascoigny and its Borders , and consequently being too narrow to be accounted a third part of France , Augustus Caesar , when he had overcome Mark Antony , and setled the Empire , divided this Country into 4 parts [ making Gallia Narbonensis one ] and those 4 parts into 17 Provinces , according to the Notitia ; and to make them equal , chang'd and alter'd their limits , taking in a great part of Gallia Celtica , or Lugdunensis , and adding it to Aquitain , which under that Emperor extended it self not only from the Pyreneé Mountains to the Garonne , but much farther , even to the Loire , which was its bounds , by which means Poictou became a part of Aquitain , but not till then . Which Country of Poictou was for a time made a Kingdom by the Goths , but they were soon driven out of it by Chlodovec King of France . In this Country was S. Hilary born , says a a Specul . hist. lib. 15. c. 23. Vincent of Beauvais , at Bourges in Berry , the chief City of the Bituriges Cubi a people of Aquitain , whose Metropolis was antiently called Avaricum . But I rather believe b b Pr●●m . l. 2. in Ep. ad Galat. tom. 9. p. 102. D. S. Hierome , who is herein followed by Baronius , Spondanus , Isaac Pontanus , and others , that he was a Citizen of Poictiers by birth , which City , whether it were the antient Limonum , or Augustoritum , I leave to the learned to determine .

IV. Such was this famous Man for his birth , the place of his nativity , and his actions being controverted , nor hath he so escap'd , but that in the account of his writings he hath equally suffered by the negligence , and unfaithfulness of some Historians ; some , as the Magdeburg Centurists , confounding him with another Hilary of the same age , who being a Deacon at Rome , was first a follower of Lucifer Caralitanus in his schism , and afterwards turned Anabaptist , and is reputed the Author of those Commentaries on S. Paul's Epistles , which are reckoned among the Works of S. Ambrose ; but c c Martyrolog. p. 42. Annal. to. 4. an. 362. p. 92. Baronius hath over and above lash'd those learned men for that error . Another Hilary was Bishop of Arles in the later end of the next Century , whom some suppose the Author of the Carmen in Genesim , but I think rather that Pope Hilary , who succeeded Leo the Great , writ , and dedicated that Poem to his Predecessor . But by no means may we make S. Hilary of Arles the Author of that Epistle to S. Austin De Praedestinatione contra Pelagianos , or that other Epistle , which is the 88th among S. Austin's , as Mr. H. p. 404. believes , for that Epistle was writ cir . an. 426. whenas , says the learned Gerhard Vossius , Hilary was not Bishop of Arles [ though he be so styled in the end of the Epistle of Prosper to S. Austin ] and he plainly intimates himself to be a Lay-man ; but if a Bishop , it was that Hilary Narbonensis , to whom the 8th Epistle of P. Zosimus , and the 3d of P. Boniface were writ , or else Hilary of Syracuse , who in the case of Pelagius propos'd those questions to S. Austin Ep. 88. inter . Aug. which he answers Ep. 99. Baron . annal. tom. 5. an . 426. n. 20. Voss . hist. Pelag. l. 6. Thes. 14. p. 600/1. Petav . rationar . temp. part . 1. l. 6. c. 16. p. 294. Raynand . disquisit . de Valeriano Cimeliensi . cap. 4. p. 10 , 11. Usser de primord . Eccles. Britan. c. 11. p. 345 , &c. in which confusion of names I must direct my reader to Baronius , Gerhard Vossius , Petavius , Raynandus , and the Reverend Primate , and there he shall find satisfaction . And of the miraculous performances of this Father , Venantius Fortunatus will inform him , whom I wonder Mr. H. never quotes , though he purposely writ the life of S. Hilary .

V. When the good Prelate was banish'd into Phrygia , Mr. H. p. 392. makes it to have been the act of the Synods of Biterris , and Arles , whereas those Synods were convened in several years [ that at Arles 3 years before the other ] in the first of which , not our Father , but a a Spondan . an. 353. n. 8. p. 32● . Paulinus Bishop of Triers , and other Orthodox Bishops were banish'd into Phrygia An. 353. in the later , which was celebrated at Besieres [ whose proper name was Bliterrae , in Antoninus Beterrae , in Ptolemy Betira , in others otherwise ] b b An. 356. n. 13. p. 331. S. Hilary was banish'd with Rhodanius Bishop of Tholouse An. 356 , which that it happened that year , see it proved by b b An. 356. n. 13. p. 331. S. Spondanus . So that Mr. H. hath done ill to affirm , that he was banish'd by both Synods , which was impossible , or if he meant otherwise , the rules of Grammar would have obliged him to have set the Synod of Arles before that of Besieres in order of writing , as in that of time .

VI. This excellent man is seldom mentioned by the Church-Historians , who writ in Greek , or by the Greek Fathers , whom I have met with . Only I find Theodoret styling him the holy Hilary , Bishop and Confessor . But the Latine Fathers are more frequent in his due Encomia ;

Vide Socrat. Eccles. hist. lib. 3. c. 8. Sozom. l. 3. c. 13. lib. 4. c. 8. & l. 5. c. 12.

Theodor. dial . 2. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Aug. contr. Julian . l. 1. c. 2. Ecclesiae Catholicae adversùs haereticos acerrimum defensorem venerandum quis ignorat Hilarium Episcopum Gallam ? — virum tantâ in Episcopis Catholicis laude praeclarum , tantâ notitiâ , famâque conspicuum . vid. cund . de nat. & grat . c. 61. &c. Hieron . in Isai . c. 60. Cyprianus — & nostri temporis Confessor Hilarius ●nne tibi videntur excelsae quondam in saeculo arbores aedificâsse Ecclesiam Dei ? Id. Apolog. adv. Ruff. l. 2. virum eloquentissimum , & contra Arianos Latini sermonis tubam , &c.

he is called by S. Austin , the holy , blessed , and venerable Hilary , a man famous in the judgment of all the Christian world , the most Reverend and acute Defender of the Catholick Church against the Hereticks ; by S. Hierome , a most eminent , and eloquent man , whose Books with those of Athanasius he highly commends in his 7th Epistle to the reading of that good woman Laeta , some of which himself had transcribed with his own hand at Triers . And Ruffinus , who in other places is not so just to him , yet in his a a Lib. 1. cap. 30. History commends him for his excellent morals , his meekness , and sedate temper , and for his learning , and eloquence : adding of him , and Eusebius Vercellensis , That they were the illustrious lights of the world , and with their rays did illuminate all Illyricum , Italy , and France ; to omit Sulpitius Severus , Venantius Fortunatus , and others .

VII . § 3. p. 399. We are told , that the Tractate De numero septenario is S. Hilary's , because it is dedicated unto Fortunatus , but that is not an argument strong enough to deprive S. Cyprian , for there were more than one Clergy-man of that name in the time of that African Primate ; for instance , there was Fortunatus à Tuccabori , who subscribed in the Synod of Carthage , and probably was the same to whom S. Cyprian writ his 53d Epistle , and his Exhortation to Martyrdome . Nor could there be that actual friendship between Venantius Fortunatus , and S. Hilary , which Mr. H. mentions , for S. Hilary is p. 414. affirm'd to die An. 366. But Venantius Fortunatus flourish'd not till circ. An. 570. nor was he a French-man by Birth , but an Italian , Born in Marchia Tarvisana , and bred at Ravenna , who being oppress'd with sore eyes , travel'd to the shrine of S. Martin , famous for such Miracles , where finding his cure , for a testimony of his gratitude he writ the life of that famous man , and intending a further visit to his reliques , he came to Tours , and thence to Poictiers , where making a halt , he was first made a Priest , and then Bishop of that See .

VIII . His Book of Hymns is acknowledged to be lost , unless , as b b Epist. dedic . ante opera Hilarii . Erasmus conjectures , those Hymns , Crux fidelis , and that on S. John Baptist , Vt queant laxis &c. be some of them . But that this great man was the first among the Catholicks , that set forth Hymns and Verses , as is said p. 400 , I cannot grant . For the world is not ignorant , that Tertullian writ against Marcion in Verse , and other Poems are father'd on him , on Cyprian , and Lactantius ; and if he means it only of Hymns , how can he reconcile his position with that of c c Hist. Eccles. lib. 5. cap. ult . Eusebius from a much Antienter Author , who living circ. an. 200. and writing against the heresie of Artemon , uses this as an argument to disprove that disturber of the Church , that many faithful Brethren from the very infancy of Christianity had writ Psalms and Hymns to the praise of Christ the Son of God , in which they attributed Divinity to him .

IX . His Books concerning the Trinity are said by d d Ubi supr. Erasmus to be his Master-piece , as Tully's Books de Oratore , or S. Austin's de Civitate dei , or S. Hierom's Comments on the Prophets are theirs . But withal he wishes , that that great wit had undertook a subject that would better have comported with his sublime and transcendent Eloquence and Acumen . But I cannot believe that he was the first among the Latines who writ on that subject , as is affirmed p. 401. for Mr. H. himself p. 143. acknowledges a Discourse of Tertullian's in defence of the Trinity , which the whole Greek Church , says Baronius , ascribe to that Father , others to S. Cyprian , a third sort to Novatian , the Roman Schismatical Presbyter , Cyprian's Cotemporary and Antagonist ( who as a a Catal. v. Novatian . S. Hierome informs , writ a great Volume of the Trinity , an Epitome of what Tertullian had before-hand said on that subject ) the youngest of which lived some years before this French Prelate ; and whereas he may explain himself , that he means it of defending the Doctrine of the holy Trinity against the Arians , we know , that that Alexandrian Incendiary did only revive and polish the decryed and condemned Opinions of Artemon , Photinus , Paulus Samosatenus , and others ; though I think it were not impossible to prove , that b b Id. ibid. v. Lucif . Lucifer , Bishop of Calaris in Sardinia , undertook this Controversie against the Arian Faction , before Saint Hilary .

X. As I cannot subscribe to Cardinal Bellarmine and Possevine , that the Epistle that is extant in the name of S. Hilary to his Daughter Abra is undoubtedly his , so neither can I think that so indulgent , so good a Father could be forgetful of his Family during his banishment , but that he writ both to his Wife and Daughter , which Epistles being lost , this was foisted in for one , as writ on that famous occasion of Abra's consulting him about her Marriage , which Story is elegantly rendred into English by the Seraphick Prelate c c Holy dying . ch. 3. sect. 7. p. 102. Bishop Taylor , and to him I remit the Reader .

XI . The Epistles to S. Austin , and the Poem called Genesis have been adjusted to their true owners already ; and as to the Fragment concerning the Transactions of the Council at Ariminum , p. 405. I would not have had Mr. H. so tamely to have subscribed to Baronius , whose interest it was to decry that piece , and who is herein followed by his Epitomator d d An. 352. sect. 4. & an. 357. sect. 9. Spondanus , and the learned e e Resp. ad Reg. Jacob . lib. 1. cap. 27. Perron . The passages in that fragment being too severe and peremptory to be allowed by these Proctors of the Roman Church , as becoming Language from a Puisny Bishop to his Holiness , to impeach him of Heresie and anathematize him ; for notwithstanding all their Arguments , I can see nothing why it may not be genuine .

XII . His style is intricate , but copious and lofty ; and for this cause among others Erasmus complains , that it cost him more time and pains to correct S. Hilary , Hier. Ep. 13. ad Paulin. tom. 1. p. 106. Gallicano cothurno attollitur . Sidon . Apollin . l. 4. Ep. 3. attollitur , ut Hilarius . than it did to set out S. Hierome ; ( although of S. Hierome a a Ep. nuncup . ante opera Hieron . he speaks confidently , that it cost that Father less study to write than him to fit his works for the Press ) after which he goes on with a continuation of the Character ; that his way of expressing himself is such , that had he treated of those subjects that are plain and intelligible , yet it would be hard to understand , and easie to deprave his Writings ; much more now , when he undertook to demonstrate what is above all reason and cannot be explain'd ; so that men have hardly usurp'd that liberty over any one of the Ancients , as they have done over S. Hilary , especially in his Books de Trinitate , & Synodis , in which by comparing Manuscripts he found in some places whole Prefaces added , in others a conclusion of a discourse , in a third place 30 or 40 lines interpolated at once . And when b b Ep. 141. ad Marcell . S. Hierome says , That he durst not reprehend a man so eminent in his Age , both for his courage in asserting the truth , for the holiness of his life , and the perswasiveness of his Eloquence , which made him famous throughout the whole Roman Empire ; yet in the same Epistle he says , that he understood neither Hebrew nor Greek , for which Erasmus makes his Apology , that for skill in Hebrew none of the Fathers before him had any , but Origen , and that engaged them to use the Translation of the Septuagint ; and for his knowledge of the Greek Tongue , that he was happier in his own Compositions than in his Translations , adding and omitting in the later what himself pleased . Nor is his style without its Barbarisms , but Scio inter Christianos verborum vitia non solere reprehendi , says S. Hierome , Solecisms in Speech are no breach of the Laws of Christianity .

XIII . His Creed , §. 5. p. 407. is set down too short , as if the holy Prelate never owned the belief of the Divinity of the holy Ghost , when to what Mr. H. recites , he should have added what immediately follows , c c Tom. 1. lib. 3. adv. Constant . p. 281. haec ego in spiritu sancto ita credidi , ut , &c. These things by the assistance of the holy spirit do I so believe , that I am not to be taught any other Creed ; for herein I differ not from the belief of the Fathers according to the Doctrine of the Gospel , and the Symbol repeated at my Baptism . For if he defended the Trinity ex professo in his Books , and owns the belief of the Apostolick Creed , which he there mentions , I know not how he can be said to deny the Divinity of the holy Ghost . And this I mention , because Erasmus and others so impeach him ; for that when he expresly mentions the adoration of the Father and the Son , he alters his style , when he speaks of the holy Ghost , a a De Trinit. lib. 2. p. 30. & l. 12. p. 261. ( hie ergo spiritus sanctus expetendus est , promerendus est — ut patrem , & filium adorem , & sanctum spiritum tuum promerear , &c. ) and for this method of expressing himself Erasmus gives his reasons by way of Apology , either that his discourse did not require any more explicite Declaration of the holy Ghost's Divinity , or that the Dogma was not yet defined by the Church , or that there is no such position expresly laid down in Scripture , or that his great design being against the Arians , there was more need to prove the Deity of the Son of God , who was made man , Macedonius not yet appearing to disturb the Church ; and yet b b Pag. 260. in the same Sentence where S. Hilary denies Christ to be a Creature , he affirms the same of the holy Ghost ; and if no Creature , then by the Father 's own way of arguing , a Creator , and if so , to be adored , and whatsoever is to be adored is God .

XIV . The Errours laid to the charge of this venerable Ancient , have been collected to Mr. H.'s hand by Erasmus , and others , but that acute Dutchman excuses the first , when he assigns usum spiritui sancto , as if it were a mistake of his in translating the passage out of some Greek Writer [ and it is affirmed by a c c Chemnit. orat . de lect. Patr. p. 4. good Author , that he collected the Sentences of the Greeks concerning the Trinity ] fortasse legerat 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , quod derivatur 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ab utendo , unde 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; so that he imagined the word to signifie use , which imports goodness ; and if so , in this last sense the Doctrine is consonant to that of the Schools , which attributes works of Power to God the Father , of Wisdom to God the Son , but of Mercy and Goodness to God the holy Ghost ; so that this is rather an Errour in Grammar , a mis-translation , than an Errour in Divinity .

XV. His second Errour was not only his , but the Opinion of Clemens of Alexandria , and others ; and Bonaventure says that Gulielmus Parisiensis saw a Book of S. Hilary's , wherein he retracted that Opinion . When he affirms , that the blest Virgin did conceive , carry in her Womb , and bring forth our Saviour , it implyes plainly , that he derived his flesh and blood from the substance of his mother ; and when he subjoyns , that he took nothing else from her , I should understand it either of original sin , which he was absolutely free from , or rather of Humane Passions , which the blest Virgin was subject to , and so this Assertion immediately succeeding the former in the Father , seems to me to be the same with it . Nor can I think , there would have been so intimate , and sacred a friendship between our Confessor , and S. Athanasius , [ so great , that the Alexandrian Patriarch translated S. Hilaries Books into Greek ] if the one had denied Christs being born of the substance of his Mother , which the other makes an Article of his Creed . So that here I cannot forbear giving my Reader the excellent advice of this very Father to guide him in such cases . a a De trinit. lib. 1. p. 9. Optimus lector est , qui dictorum intelligentiam exspectet ex dictis potius , quàm attulerit , neque cogat id videri dictis contineri , quod ante lectionem praesumpserit d d Apud Chemnit. loc. com . part . 1. sect. de filie p. 76. intelligendum . That man only is fit to read Books , who brings no prejudice with him , and understands the words that he reads , in the sense of the Author , not according to his own perswasion , and fancy .

XVI . His fourth error , that we are the Sons of God not only by Adoption , but Nature , hath its Apology in that of the Apostle , 2 Pet. 1.4 . That we are made partakers of the divine Nature [ 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ] and if this be , as probably it may be , a Translation out of the Greek , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 we know in that Language is a word of various signification , and that even in Scripture , to instance only in that one controverted place , 1 Cor. 11.14 . and there is now a MS. Commentary , says b b Apud Pears . vindic . part . 2. cap. 14. p. 196. Lambecius , in the library at Vienna with this Title , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , How many ways the word 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is understood in holy writ .

XVII . His fifth opinion , that all things were created at once in the same moment , and that Moses added the distinction of six days , the better to suit the shallow capacities of men , is a tenet , that hath found many late c c Vide Valesii sacr. philos. c. 1. Patrons , and among the Antiens the vulgar Translation of Ecclus. 18.1 . He that lives for ever , created all things at once . Which place we find did sway d d De Genes. ad lit . li. 4. c. 33. & lib. 10. c. 2. & Confes . l. 12. c. 9. S. Austin , and is easily solved , if we understand it in the sense of Rhabanus Maurus , whom the Master of the sentences , Albertus Magnus , Thomas Aquinas , Carthusianus , and many others follow , that the substances of all things were created at once [ that Chaos so much talk'd of ] but the introducing fit forms into every particular part of that rude heap , was the work of the six days .

XVIII . His opinion of freewil , is very suspiciously worded , and yet not only the Greek Fathers usually so express themselves , but also e e Lib. 3. contr. Pelag. tom. 2. p. 301. S. Hierome , even when he designedly writes against the Pelagians . Know this — that it is our duty to ask , and Gods part to bestow what we Petition ; for we must begin , and God will perfect the good work . So that such sentences are more tolerable in S. Hilary , who spoke less warily , because Pelagius had not yet appeared in the world ; and to this purpose the remarque of the most learned a a Hist. Pelag. l. 4. part. 2. p. 438. Gerhard Vossius is very pertinent . These harsh sayings of the Antients were the cause , that that admirable and transcendent Bishop S. Austin was in nothing so put to it , as when his adversaries urged him with the Testimonies of the Fathers , of which some he interprets dextrously and to the best advantage , some he excuses , and a few , which he could no way Apologize for , he couragiously condemns .

XIX . That S. Hilary lived only six years after his return from his exile [ as is asserted p. 414. ] is opposed by b b In Chronic. S. Hierome , who tells us , that he returned from his banishment an . MM CCC LXXVI . and dyed an . MM CCC LXXXIII . which is seven years ; so that he could not dye in the fourth year of the Emperours Valentinian and Valens , as says c c Hist. l. 2. Sulpitius Severus , nor in the sixth year after his return , as say d d Lib. 1. cap. 39. Gregory Turonensis , and Mr. H. but in the sixth year of those Emperours , and an . Chr. 369. for himself in his answer to Auxentius tells us , that he opposed that Heretick at Millain ten years after the Council at Ariminum , which could not be till Ann. 369. And in that year probably he left the world , e e Greg. Turon . ubi supr. Plenus Sanctitate , & fide , Famous for the holiness of his Life , and miraculous atchievements , among many others of which prodigious Actions he is reported to have raised the dead ; f f Erasm . ubi supr. he was certainly a Prelate of a sanctified converse , and exact orthodoxy , of singular learning , and admirable Eloquence : In a word , he lived , and dyed the glory of his Age.

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Dr. Burnet's Two Letters written upon the Discovery of the late Plot. 4 to Decree made at Rome 2d March , 1679. condemning some Opinions of the Jesuits and other Casuists . 4 to Mr. John James Visitation Sermon , April 9. 1671. 4 to Mr. John Cave's Fast Sermon on 30 Jan. 1679. 4 to — His Assize Sermon at Leicester , July 31. 1679. 4 to Certain Genuine Remains of the Lord Bacon in Arguments Civil , Moral , Natural , Medical , Theological and Bibliographical ; with a large Account of all his Works , by Mr. Thomas Tenison . 8ᵒ Dr. Puller's Discourse of the Moderation of the Church of England . 8ᵒ The Original of all the Plots in Christendom ; with the Danger and Remedy of Schism : by Dr. William Sawell , Master of Jesus Colledge Cambridge . 8ᵒ A Discourse of Supreme Power and Common Right , by a Person of Quality . 8ᵒ Dr. Edw. 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