written to the same Bishop about Gebwin his Arch-Deacon who was gone to Rome about some Difference which he had with his Bishop In his Journey he stop'd at Cluny and had promis'd Peter to return to Troyes and adjust Matters with his Bishop Atto in the Thirty Fifth Letter returns an Answer to the foregoing Letter The following Letters of Peter of Cluny contain nothing in them of moment till you come to the Seventh of the Third Book wherein he replies to the Questions which had been propos'd to him by one of his Monks nam'd Gregory who was a great Student The first Question was whether the Virgin Mary had received an Increase of Grace in receiving the Holy Ghost with the Apostles on the day of Pentecost Peter of Cluny replies that she had received no increase of Charity or of sanctifying Grace since throughout her whole Life she had a fulness of Grace and Sanctity but that she might have receiv'd an Augmentation of some particular Gifts such as Knowledge Prophecy the power of working Miracles of speaking several Tongues which yet was not very certain The second Question is how the Virgin Mary could possibly be ignorant of any thing after she had conceived the Son of God Peter of Cluny proves that she was ignorant of a great many things nor is he of Opinion that she had such a perfect Knowledge of God as the Angels and Souls of good Men made Blessed have and he positively denies that here below she enjoy'd Beatitude though he owns that she had more Knowledge and Wisdom with respect We cannot but here observe that this is one of the most modest accounts of the Perfections of the Virgin Mary to be met with among any Romanists and such as does not at all favour the Notions of some of the modern Papists to Spiritual things than all other Mortals The third Question is upon a passage of St. Gregory wherein that Father seems to assert that the Word was united to the Manhood before it was born of the Virgin Mary Peter of Cluny says that this passage has given some an occasion of asserting that our Lord brought down his Humanity from Heaven which is entirely contrary to the Sentiment of St. Gregory who explains his Thoughts by saying that though Jesus Christ was not yet born of the Virgin yet the Union of the Person of the Divine Logos with the Manhood was already typifyed and foretold though it was not as yet known or reveal'd In the Third Letter of the Fourth Book he writes to Pope Innocent in favour of Lewis the Younger King of France and intreats him to have some condescension for him If his Youth had inclin'd him to do any thing that was not convenient This was written upon the occasion of the Difference between that Prince and the Arch-Bishop of Bourges He likewise gave the Pope to understand that the Monastery of Luxeu which he would have reform'd the last Year by sending thither several Monks of Cluny was still wholly irregular and in a worse Condition than before The Fourth is that Letter which he wrote to the same Pope about Abaelard By the Fifth he recommends to that Pope a Canon of Lions nam'd Heraclius In the Seventh he writes again to that Pope in favour of Arnulphus Arch-Deacon of Seez Elected and Consecrated Bishop of Lizieux that the Pope might confirm him in spite of the Attempts made by the Count of Anger 's to the contrary In the Eighth he complains to Milo Bishop of Terrouanne for his having publickly declaim'd in his Church against the Monks of Cluny accusing them of being Proud and Disobedient to Bishops He shews him that if he had any thing to say against their Conduct he ought to let them know of it and reprove them for it privately and not to declaim against them so publickly Afterwards he clears them of the Accusation and complains that that Bishop had hinder'd the bestowing a Canonship Peter the Venerable Abbot of Cluny of Abbeville on them though it did not belong to his Diocess but to the Diocess of Amiens In the Ninth he recommends to Pope Innocent the Bishop of Salamanca Arch-Bishop Elect of Compostella and intreats him to approve of this Translation In the Tenth he intreats him to grant Hugh Arch-Bishop of Tours leave to return to his Arch-Bishopprick For Hugh in his Journey to Rome fell sick in the Monastery of La Charite where he had taken upon him the Habit of that Order In the Eleventh he exhorts the Arch-Bishop of Narbonne who was very old and infirm to quit his Arch-Bishoprick and to retire to Cluny This Letter was written from Spain to which place he had travelled The Sixteenth is the Two Hundred and Twenty Eighth Letter of St. Bernard to which Peter of Cluny reply'd by the Seventeenth which is likewise the Two Hundred and Twenty Ninth of St. Bernard's Letters of which we have given you an Abstract Peter of Cluny does therein at first declare that the Difference which had been between them whether about the Bishoprick of Langres or for Tenths had abated nothing of the Charity Friendship or Esteem which he had for him In the close of this Letter he sends him word that he therewith sent him a Version of the Alcoran which he had translated whilst he was in Spain to shew the Errors and Follies of the Mahometan Religion Afterwards he gives him a short account of Mahomet and of his Doctrine The Eighteenth is a Letter of Compliment to Pope Celestine upon his Advancement to the Pope-dom The Nineteen is written to Pope Lucius to whom he likewise made several Compliments and asked him whether he should send him the thirteen Religious according as he had order'd him when he was at Rome This Pope by the next Letters return'd him Answer that he would do him a great Favour in so doing The Twenty First is that which he wrote to Heloissa upon the Death of Abaelard The Twenty Second is written to Lucius in favour of the Bishop of Orleans who was accus'd by several of his Clergy By the Twenty Fourth he recommends to him the Religious whom he sent him In the Twenty Fifth he wrote to Pope Eugenius III. in favour of the Arch-Bishop of Besancon In the Twenty Seventh he exhorts Atto Bishop of Troyes to retire to Cluny In the Thirtieth he blames those who caus'd to be sung or recited such Hymns or Histories in the Church as are full of Fictions and he says that not long ago he was very much put to the Blush in being forc'd to hear Sung and to sing himself in the Church an Hymn in Honour of St. Benedict which contains twenty falsities at least without mentioning the Impropriety of the Language and the falseness of Quantity which had engaged him to make another Hymn in Honour of that Saint The Thirty Sixth is written to King Lewis the Young exhorting him to punish the Jews not by putting them to Death but by
yet wrote nothing but only that he tarried a long time without writing and at last God commanded him to write 'T is believed he wrote this in the last year of King Uzziah To the second we reply That he might foretel a future desolation even at a time before it happened 'T is an easie matter to answer the third by saying that the Book of the Actions of Uzziah mentioned in the Chronicles is different from that of his Prophecies In order to answer the fourth it sufficeth to observe that it is no where said that Isaiah wrote those things which he prophesied under Manasses Lastly as for the fifth we say that we ought not to expect a continued Historical style from the Prophets On the contrary their Prophecies are generally written without connexion and order Their was formerly another Prophecy of Jeremiah mentioned by Origen where these words were to be found Appenderunt mercedâ—… mâ—… c. The Nazarens made use of it as St. Jerome testifies in cap. Matth. 27. ll We don 't certainly know at what time Some are of opinion that Baruch went not to Babylon till after the death of his Master Jeremiah to whom he was too far engaged ever to quit him and they confirm this opinion by the 2d Verse where mention is made of the burning of Jerusalem Others say he wrote his Book before the destruction of Jerusalem because he there speaks of Sacrifices and Consecrated Vessels which makes them believe that he was one of those that were deputed in the fourth year of Zedekiah of whom Saraiah the Brother of Baruch was chief They affirm therefore that having carried the Book of Isaiah thither he composed his Prophecy the year following to comfort the Captives and that the fifth year after the taking of Jerusalem which is mentioned in the second Verse ought to be computed from the Captivity of Jechoniah mm Which seems to be confirmed by a certain passage in his Book In the first Chapter verse 3. Et ait rex Aspheâ—es praeposito Eâ—…horum 〈◊〉 fuerunt ergo inter eos Daniel c. Origen and St. Jerome are of this opinion The Author of the Life and Death of the Prophets attributed to St. Epiphanius and the false Dorotheus are of the contrary opinion nn The truth and antiquity of the two last Chapters that contain the History of Susanna and of Bel are mightily doubted Africanus Eusebius and Apolliâ—… reject both these Stories as fabulous and maintain they were not written by Daniel but that they make a part of the Prophecy of Hâ—… St. Jerome seems to be of this opinion in his Preface upon Daniel Origen has defended the truth of this History without being willing to affirm that it was Canonical The Author of the Book of the Wonderful things in Scripture attributed to St. Austin Tom. 3. lib. 2. chap. 32. does not mention the History of Susanna and rejects that of Bel. Theodoret in his Comments upon Daniel speaks not a word of these Histories Nicephorus places the History of Susanna amongst the Apocryphal Books The Action of Susanna is related and commended by Clemens Alexandrinus l. 4. Strom. by Tertullian libr. de Corona c. 4. by St. Cyprian Ep. 4. by St. Austin in his 118th Sermon and in several other places by St. Basil lib. 3. de Spir. sancto cap. 〈◊〉 by St. Ambrose lib. 2. de Spir. Sancto by St. Chrysostome in an Homily which is in Tom. 5. by Gregory Nazianzene in his 29th Oration by Avitus in his Epistle to his Sister by St. Fulgentius in his Answers to Ferrandus and by Bede The Author of the Abridgment attributed to St. Athanasius and Ruffinus seem to own it for a Canonical Book as well as St. Ambrose and Sulpitius Severus The Objections that are urged against this History are these In the first place they tell us that the History of Susanna could not happen when Daniel was a youth as he is called in that Story For in the 13th Chapter verse 65. it is observed that Astyages was dead and Cyrus reigned in his place Now Daniel was then well in years Answer This History happened a long time before and as for the above mentioned passage it is put out of its place For in the ancient Versions it is placed at the beginning of the Book of Daniel and 't is therefore set at the end of it in the Vulgar Edition because it is not to be found in the Hebrem Text. Wherefore these words of the 13th Chapter verse 65. And King Astyages was gathered to his Fathers do not at all concern the History of Susanna but that of Bel which immediately follows and accordingly in the Edition of Sixtus Quintus it is joyned to it Africanus objects that it is not credible that Joachim the Husband of Susanna was so rich and powerful in the Captivity as he is said to be in that Book nor that the Captive Jews had authority to condemn their own Criminals To this Origen answers That the Jews that were carried away Captives into Babylon were not plundered but that they were both rich and powerful and that there is a great deal of reason to believe they had authority to judge and condemn their Malefactors by their own Laws as they had afterwards when they were conquered by the Romans In the second place Africanus raises an Objection about an allusion that is to be found in this History where Daniel is introduced discoursing to the Elders in certain words that allude to the Greek names of the Trees under which they found Susanna committing wickedness For the first of them having said that it was under a Mastick Tree in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he answered him that an Angel should cut him in two because the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies in Greek to cut asunder and the other having said that it was under a Holm-Oak 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he makes use of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which allusions says Africanus makes it appear that it was a Greek that wrote these things On the other hand Origen answers that Daniel never made use of these terms or names of Trees but of some other Hebrew or Chaldee word to which the Verb that signifies to cut asunder answered and that the Greek Interpreter endeavoured to render this sense by finding out some names of Trees which alluded to those Greek Verbs that signifie to cut asunder And thus in Genesis when it is said in the Hebrew that a Woman is called Isha the feminine of the word Ish that signifies a Man the Latin Translation has rendred it haec vocabitur virgo and in the Greek Symmachus has translated it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a better word than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the Septuagint have used 'T is commonly objected against the History of Bel that the ancient Title in the Septuagint attributes it to Habakkuk and that the Daniel mentioned in that History was a Priest 't is
of Iddo of Ahijah and Jehu cited frequently in the Books of the Chronicles were Memoirs composed in all probability by these Prophets We must say the same thing of the Book of the Sayings and Acts of the Kings of Israel oftentimes cited in the Kings which is different from the Chronicles as we have already observed To these must be added the Book of Samuel cited in the first Book of Chronicles and the last Chapter The Discourses of Hosai or of the Seers that are mentioned in the second Book of Chronicles chap. 33. vers 19. The History of Uzziah written by the Prophet Isaiah and cited in the second Book of Chronicles chap. 26. vers 22. The Three Thousand Parables written by Solomon as it is said in the first of Kings chap. 4. vers 32. The Five Thousand or rather the Thousand and Five Songs with the several Volumes concerning all manner of Plants and Animals that were likewise composed by Solomon as we are informed in the same place The Descriptions of Jeremiah that are mentioned in the second Book of Maccabees chap. 2. vers 1. The Prophecy of Jonas that is lost The Memoirs of Johannes Hircanus mentioned 1 Maccab. 16. 23 24. and the Books of Jason that are mentioned in the second Book of Maccabees 'T is usually Ask'd Whether these Books cited in the Old Testament were Canonical or no This Question in my Opinion is asked to no purpose since we have not any remainders of them at present but however certain it is that they are not Canonical in the same Sense as we usually take the Word that is to say they were never received into the Canon either of the Jewish or Christian Church and no body knows whether they ought to have been admitted there in case they had been still preserved Neither can we positively tell whether they were written by the Inspiration of God or were the mere Works of Men only the latter Opinion seems to be more probable In the first place because the greater part of them having been composed before Ezrah he had without question reckoned them in the Jewish Canon if he had looked upon them to be Divine Books Secondly because we must otherwise be obliged to say that the Church has lost a great part of the Book of God Thirdly because the Apostles never cited any other Books than what we now have as Books of Scripture Fourthly because the Fathers are all agreed that these Books were Apocryphal and place the Book of Enoch cited by St. Jude in the same rank This is the Opinion of Origen of St. Jerome St. Austin and indeed of all the Fathers except Tertullian For although Theodoret and some other Greek Fathers give the Title of Prophets to the Authors of these Books that are cited in Scripture yet it does not follow from thence that they composed these ancient Memoirs by the Inspiration of God It is not necessary that all the Writings and Discourses of a Prophet should be Inspired by Heaven Upon this account St. Austin has very Judiciously observed cap. 38. l. 28. de Civit. Dei that although these Books cited in the Holy Scriptures were written by Prophets that were Inspired by the Holy Ghost yet it is not necessary to say that they were Divinely Inspired For says he these Prophets might one while write like particular Men with an Historical Fidelity and another while like Prophets that followed the Inspiration of Heaven Alia sicut homines Historicâ diligentiâ alia sicut Prophetas Inspiratione Divinâ scribere potuisse Let us now go on to the Books that are not in the Canon of the Old Testament and which we have at present The Catalogue of them is as follows The Prayer of King Manasses who was Captive in Babylon cited in the second Book of Chronicles where it is said that this Prayer was written amongst the Sayings of Hosai who has Translated into Greek the Discourses of the Seers or Prophets It is to be found at the end of the ordinary Bibles there is nothing lofty in it but it is full of pious Thoughts The Latin Fathers have often quoted it It is neither in Greek nor Hebrew but only in Latin The third and fourth Books of Ezrah are also in Latin in the common Bibles after the Prayer of Manasses The third which is to be found in the Greek is nothing but a Repetition of what we find in the two former it is cited by St. Athanasius St. Austin and St. Ambrose St. Cyprian likewise seems to have known it The fourth that is only to be had in the Latin is full of Visions and Dreams and some Mistakes 'T is written by a different Author from that of the third for besides the great difference of Style one of them reckons Nineteen Generations from Aaron down to him and the other but Fifteen The third Book of Maccabees contain a miraculous Deliverance of the Jews whom Phiscon had exposed in the Amphitheatre at Alexandria to the fury of Elephants Josephus relates this History in his second Book against Appion This Book of the Maccabees is to be found in all the Greek Editions It is reckoned in the number of Canonical Books in the last Canon attributed to the Apostles but perhaps that has been added since it 's also mentioned in the Chronicle of Eusebius and in the Author of the Abridgment of Scripture attributed to St. Athanasius This History if it be true happened about Fifty years before the Passages that are related in the other two Books and therefore ought to be the first It is without any Reason called the Book of Maccabees since it does not speak of them in the least The fourth containing the History of Hircanus is rejected as Apocryphal by the Author of the Abridgment of Scripture attributed to St. Athanasius It is mentioned by scarce any of the Ancients Perhaps it was taken out of the Book of the Actions of Johannes Hircanus mentioned towards the end of the first of Maccabees Sixtus Senensis assures us that this account very much resembles Josephus's but that he has abundance of his Hebrew Idiotisms there There is towards the end of Job in the Greek Edition a Genealogy of Job that makes him the fifth from Abraham with the Names of the Edomitish Kings and of the Kingdoms of his Friends This Addition is neither in the Latin nor in the Hebrew There is likewise in the Greek a Discourse of Job's Wife that is not in the Hebrew rejected by Africanus and St. Jerome Towards the end of the Psalms in the Greek Editions we find a Psalm that is not of the number of the Hundred and Fifty made in the Person of David when he was yet a Youth after he had Slain the Giant Goliah The Author of the Abridgment of Scripture attributed to St. Athanasius cites it and places it also in the number of the Canonical Psalms To conclude at the end of Wisdom there is a Discourse of Solomon drawn from the
the Gospels of Thaddeus Barnabas and Andrew and those that were â—…ted by Hesychius together with a Book concerning the Inâ—â—ncy of Jesus Christ and another relating to the Genealogy of the Virgin Mary attributed to St. Matthew and reckon'd by Gelasâ—â—s in the number of Apocryphal Writings that were forg'd by Hereticks Of the counterfeit Acts of the Apostles and of the false Revelations FOrasmuch as the Acts of St. Luke contain only a very small part of the Transactions of some of the Apostles since he gives no account of the proceedings of all neither doth he describe Counterfeit Acts of the Apostles and false Revelations at large even all the Actions of those that are mentioned by him They that applied themselves to the counterfeiting of these Records were furnished with great variety of matter wherein they might exercise their deoeitful Arts. The first that practised this Artifice was a certain Priest and a Disciple of St. Paul who being inflamed with a false Zeal for his Master forged under the name of St. Luke the Acts of Paul and Thecla and was convicted of this Imposture by St. John as we are assured by Tertullian and after him by St. Jerome However the simplicity of this ancient Priest might be more easily excused in regard that he had no ill design but we cannot but be seized with horror when we reflect on the enormous practices of the Hereticks who have presumed to write the Acts of divers Apostles at their pleasure wherein they have obtruded their detestible Errors Such were the Acts of St. Peter and St. Paul devised by the Manichees and mentioned by Philastrius in which the Apostles were introduced affâ—â—ming that the Souls of Men and of Beasts were of the saine nature and working Miracles to cause Dogs and Sheep to speak The Acts of St. Andrew of St. John and of the Apostles in general substituted by the same Hereticks according to the Testimony of St. Epiphanius Philastrius and St. Augustin a PHilastr Haeres 48. Epiph. 47. and St. Aug. Lib. de fide contra Manich. The Acts of the Apostles counterfeited by the Ebionites and cited by St. Epiphanius in his description of their Heresie The Doctrine Preaching Voyages and Disputes of St. Peter falsely attributed to St. Clement containing the Errors of the Ebionites and the b In Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This might admit divers significations but St. Epiphanius determines it to signifie an Account of St. Paul's being lifted up to Heaven It contained abstruse Matters and seemed to be the same with the Secrets or Revelation of St. Paul St. Augustin quotes this Book in Joan. Tract 98. History of St. Paul's being snatched up into Heaven being a Work compiled by the Gajanites whereof the Gnosticks likewise made use and St. Epiphanius assures us Haeres 8. The Acts of St. Philip and of St. Thomas received among the Encratites and the Apostolicks as is also observed by the same St. Epiphanius in Haeres 47 and 61. The Memoirs of the Apostles invented by the Priscillianists The Itinerary of the Apostles rejected in the second Council of Nice Act. 5. to which may be added several false Relations as that of the Lots of the Apostles rejected in the Decretal The Writings of the Apostles compiled by Dictinius and disallowed in the Synod of Braga chap. 17. A Book of the Priesthood of Jesus Christ cited by Suidas the Author whereof pretended to prove that our Saviour was descended from the Tribe of Levi and that he was reckoned by the Jews among the Priests A Tract Intituled Liber Apostolicus which was a Rhapsody devised by Marcion and whereof St. Epiphanius makes mention And a Book concerning the Death and Assumption of the Virgin Mary ascribed to St. John as also the Interrogations of the Blessed Virgin composed by the Gnosticks together with another Book concerning her Genealogy published by the same Authors Lastly there are several counterfeit Apocalypses or Revelations as the Revelations of the great Apostle forged by Cerinthus The Apocalypse of St. Peter which Eusebius in Book 3. chap. 25. of his History reckons in the number of those spurious Books that are not Heretical and which as Sozomen affirms was read every year about the time of Easter in the Churches of Palestine And the Revelation or the Secerts of St. Paul which was heretofore very much esteemed by the Monks The Egyptians according to the Testimony of Sozomen boasted that they had it in their possession and it is inserted in the Catalogue of Apocryphal Books by Gelasius together with the Revelations of St. Thomas and St. Stephen None of these Books are now extant neither ought we to be troubled for their loss Of the Epistle to the Laodiceans and some others attributed to St. Paul BEsides the fourteen Epistles of St. Paul some of the ancient Writers have likewise cited one directed to the Laodiceans and indeed we have at present an Epistle mentioned by St. Anselm St. Paul's Letter to the Laodiceans Sâ—xtus Senensis and Stapulensis which is inserted in some German Bibles a INserted in some German Bibles It was published in Latin by Pistorus and afterwards annexed to the German Bibles printed at Ausburg Worines and Amsterdam Particularly in those Bibles which Eliâ—s Hutterus set out in Hebrew Greek Latin and German in Quarto and is written in St. Paul's Name to the Laodiceans It is not certain whether this be the same with that which was used when St. Jerome lived b Whether this be the same as that which was used when St. Jerome lived That which gives occasion to doubt whether this Epistle be the same with that which was published heretofore is that Philastrius affirms in chap. 88. That that which was extant in his time contained several Errors and there are none in that which we now have Moreover that which is cited by St. Epiphanius was composed out of several Sentences of the Epistle to the Ephesians however it is evident that that which we now have in our possession doth not appertain to St. Paul c That which we now have in our possession doth not appertain to St. Paul It is not conformable to the Style of St. Paul it is extremely concise even shorter than that to Philemon neither hath it any one particular Subject and that that which was extant in St. Jerome's time was generally rejected as he declares in his Catalogue ab omnibus exploditur That which gave occasion to the forging of this Letter as is observed by Theodoret is that St. Paul at the end of his Epistle to the Colossians exhorts them to cause the Epistle that he had sent to them to be read by the Laodiceans and to read among themselves that from Laodicea this hath induced some to believe that there was an Epistle written to the Laodiceans at the same time with that to the Colossians and this also gave Marcion the opportunity of altering the Title of the Epistle to the
of the Cuman Sibyl foreshewing the Birth of a new King that should deâ—oend from Heaven In short it is most certain that the Gentiles acknowledged that the Books of the Sibyls were favourable to the Christians insomuch that the later were prohibited to read them as appears from the Words of Aurelian to the Senate recited by Vopiscus I admire says he Gentlemen that you should spend so much time in consulting the Writings of the Sibyls as if we were debating in an Assembly of Christians and not in the principal place of the Roman Religion These Arguments seem to be very plausible but if we examine them we shall find that they contain nothing that is solid The Pagans never submitted to the Authority of these Books of the Sibyls that were quoted by the Fathers on the cantrary it is manifest that Celsus was perswaded that they were forged by the Christians and St. Augustine plainly declares that this was the general Opinion of all the Gentiles The Sibylâ—â—e Verses mentioned by Tully were Paracrosticks that is to say the first Verse of every Sentence comprehended all the Letters in order that began the following Verses now among all the Verses of the Sibyls only those cited by Constantine are composed in Acrosticks As for the Asseâ—tion that in the time of Pâ—â—pey Julius Caesar and Augustus there was a general report that it was â—oretold in the Sibylline Books that a new King should be born within a little while we may easily reply with Tully that the Verses attributed to the Sibyls by the Heathens were made after such a manner that any sense whatsoever might be put upon them and that perhaps mention might be made therein of a certain future King as it is usual in this kind of Prophecies Therefore when the Grandeur of Pompey began to be formidable to the Roman Empire they thought it fit to make use of this pretence to prevent him from going into Egypt with an Army And Lentulus to whom this Charge was committed being Governor of Syria vainly flattered himself with this Prediction which â—…ight peradventure be further confirmed by the Prophecies of the Jews who expected the Coming of the Messiah believing that he ought to be their King Afterwards when it happened that Julius Caesar and Augustus after him actually made themselves Masters of the Roman Empire the Prophetical Expressions of the Sibyls were interpreted in their favour neither was it necessary on this account that they should clearly point at the Coming of Jesus Christ â—s it is expressed in the Writings of the Sibyls that are alledged by the Fathers but it was sufficient that they mentioned a future King which is the usual practice of all those that undertake to utter Predictions of extraordinary Events This gave occasion to Virgil who intended in his fourth Ecâ—â—gue to compose Verses in Honour of Pollio his Patron as also to Extol Augustus at the same time and to describe the Felicity of his Reign this I say afforded him an opportunity to do it with greater Majesty to make use of the name of the Sibyl and to pronounce these Verses Ultima Cumaei venit jam carminis â—t as Magâ—… ab integro 〈◊〉 nâ—scitur or do Jam 〈◊〉 progenes Câ—… alto Jam redit Virgo redeunt Saturnia regna By which nothing else is meant but that at the Nativity of Saloninus the Son of Pollio under the Consulate of his Father and the Reign of the greatest Prince in the World the Golden Age should return as it was foretold by the Sibyl That Plenty and Peace should flourish throughout the whole Universe and that the Virgin Astrâ—â— the Goddess of Justice who had abandoned the Earth at the beginning of the Iron Age should descend again from Heaven What is there in all this that resembles the Prophecies concerning Jesus Christ Or rather what is there that is not altogether prophane and â—â—gned by an Heathen Poet who only makes use of the Sibyls Name to flatter the Ambition of Augustus and to add greater Authority and Lustâ—e to that which he says in his Commendation Lastly the Words of Aurelian do not intimate that the Christians were forbidden by the Pagans to read the Sibylline Books but only that the Christians looked upon them as prophane Writings which in no wise related to their Religion and to which they gave no Credit THE Books that are attributed to Hystaspes and Mercurius Trismegistus and cited likewise by the ancient Fathers are not more Genuine than the Verses of the Sibyls There is nothing now extant of Hystaspes and this Aâ—… was altogether unknown to the ancient Heathens but the same thing connot be said of Merâ—â—riâ—â— Sirnamed Trismegistus n Sirnamed Trismegistus In Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Egyptians call him Thaaut some affirm that he was styled Trismegistus by the Grecians because he was a great King a great Priest and a great Philosopher others as Lactantius that this Name was attributed to him by reason of his incomparable Learning who is mentioned by the most ancient Pagan Writers o Mentioned by the most ancient Pagan Writers Plato in Phaedrus declares that he invented the Characters of Letters together with Arts and Sciences Cicero in Lib. 3. de Natura Deâ—rum assures us that he governed the Egyptians and that he gave them Laws and found out the Characters of their Writings It is Recorded by Diodorus Siculus that he taught the Grecians the Art of discovering the Secrets of the Mind And we are informed by Jamblichus who quotes Manetho and Scleucus that he wrote above Thirty five thousand Volumes St. Clemens Alexandrinus in Stromat Lib. 6. makes mention of Forty two Books of this Author and gives an Account of the Subject of some of them The Works of Mercurius Trismegistus are cited as favourable to the Christian Religion by the Author of the Exhortation to the Centiles said to be St. Justin by Lactantius in the Fourth Book of his Institutions by St. Clement in Lib. 1. Stromat by St. Augustine in Tract de 5. Haeres and in Lib. 8. De Civit. Dei Chap. 23. by S. Gyril of Alexandria in Lib. 1. contra Julianum and by many others as an incomparable Person and an Inventer of all the Liberal Arts and Sciences He was an Egyptian and more ancient than all the Authors whose Works are still extant Hystaspes and Mercurius Trismegistus He is believed to be as Old as Moses he either wrote or at least it is said that he wrote Twenty five or Thirty thousand Volumes But we have only two Diologues at present under his Name one whereof is called by the Name of Poemander and the other of Asclepius who are the principal Speakers The first Treatise is concerning the Will of God and the second Treats of the Divine Power these have been cited by the ancienâ— Fathers to prove the Truth of our Religion by the Authority of so famous an Author But it is certain that they cannot be
expounds the Orthodox Doctrines of the Catholick Church that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary that he was really Man that he actually suffered and died and not in appearance as some Hereticks said Lastly in the Epistle to the Romans he expresseth his Zeal and ardent desire of suffering Martyrdom and entreats them not to take this glorious Crown from him by preventing his being exposed to wild Beasts in the Amphitheatre of Rome Upon the whole matter all these Epistles are â—ull of very wholsom Precepts and usefull Exhortations they are extremely worthy of a Christian of a Bishop and of a Martyr and are all full of Warmth and Piety One cannot read them without perceiving every where that this Holy man was animated with a Zeal truly Divine for the Salvation of Souls for the fulfilling of the Law of Jesus Christ and for the preservation of his Doctrine In every thing that he says he appears to be full of Love to our Saviour of affection towards his Brethren of Care for the Discipline of the Church and of Ardour for the blessing of Peace In short let Criticks that are of a contrary Opinion say what they please I dare maintain that these Epistles deserve to be well esteemed and to be admired by all those who profess to have any Respect for Books of Piety S. POLYCARP ST Polycarp a S. Polycarp Halloixiuâ— says that S. Polycarp was originally of Smyrna that he was born in the East and that he was a Slave in his youth that he was bought by a certain Lady named Calistiâ—ne who gave him his Liberty and caused him to be instructed in the Christian Religion that she afterwards made him her Steward and at last her Heir He enlarged on the liberal donations of this Lady he affirms that Bâ—câ—lâ—â— Bishop of Smyrnâ— was at first Tutor to S. Polycarp and afterwards S. Joâ—â— he writeâ— much in the commendation of this Fictitious Bucâ—lâ—â— and declares that he ordained S. Polycarp who is the Angel of Smyrnâ— These Tales and many others are extracted from the false Acts of the Life of St. Polycarp forged under the name of Pionius from the Mâ—nologium Graecâ—râ—m by the modern Greeks the Disciple of S. John the Evangelist b The Disciple of S. John the Evangelist S. Irâ—…us tells us lib. 3. cap. 3. that he was constituted Bishop of Smyrna by the Apostles and this could be done by no other than S. Joâ—â— and by him ordained Bishop of Smyrna was after the decease of this Apostle esteemed as the Head of the Churches of Asia c The head of the Churches of Asia S. Jerâ—me says that he was Priâ—…ps 〈◊〉 Asia that is to say that he was the most considerable Bishop and as I may say succeeded in the Authority of S. John when S. Polycarp he went to Rome under the Pontificate of Anicetus about the Year 160 d About the year 160. He died in the seventh year of the Emperor Marcus Aâ—relius in the year 167. he had then served Jesus Christ 86 years as he declares himself in the Acts of his Martyrdom Thus he might have begun to serve God in the year 81 after the Nativity of our Saviour and then he might be Ten years old He conversed with all the Apostles if we may believe the Testimony of S. Irenaeus S. John died in the year of our Lord 101 and in the second of Trajâ—n he was banished in the fourteenth of Domitian Aâ—… Dâ—… 95 and returned into Asia after the death of this Emperor These Observations may serve to fix the Chronology of the Life of S. Polycarp He was born about the year of our Lord 70 he began to consecrate himself to the service of God in the year 81. At that time he conversed with the Apostles and became the Disciple of S. John after the return of this Apostle he was ordained Bishop of Smyrna however it is not precisely known in what year but this must of necessity have happened before the year 101 since S. John died that year He undertook his Journy to Rome in thâ— beginning of the Pontificate of Anicetâ—â— who presided in that See from the year 158 to the year 169. he converted several Marcionites and obliged them to return to the Bosom of the Church He had several Conserenoâ—s with Pope Anicetus probably about several particular Customs of the Church of Rome They debated the question of the day when they should keep Easter which was afterwards disputed under the Pontificate of Pope Victor but each of them having judged it to be most convenient to observe his own custom they aâ—…cably communicated one with another and Anicetus to do the greater honour to S. Polycarp caused him to officiate in his own Church e In his own Church All these Circumstances are related by S. Ireâ—â—us There are some who affirm that the Expression of S. Irenaeus signifies only that Anicetus administred the Holy Sacrament of the Lords Supper to S. Polycarp but he would not thereby have done him much honour it may be better understood according to our Explication and in his own place This Holy Bishop always abhorred Hereticks and he used to tell a Story That S. John having seen Cerinthus entring into a Bath speedily fled from thence without bathing himself therein fearing lest the building should fall because Cerinthus the Enemy of the Truth was there and he himself having once accidentally met with Mâ—rcion who desired that he would vouchsafe to take notice of him he replied I know that thou art the â—ldest Son of the Devil He had a very particular respect for the Memory of S. John he took much delight in telling over the Discourses that he formerly had with him and with others that had seen Jesus Christ in the flesh he related every thing whereof he had been informed by them concerning his Doctrine and Miracles and if he had heard any one maintaining any Principles contrary to the Apostolical Faith he was wont to cry out O God to what times hast thou reserved me and would immediately depart from the place where he was All this is recorded by S. Irenaeus and cited by Eusebius in the 14th Chapter of the fourth Book of his History and in Book 5. Chap. 20. The illustrious Martyrdom of this Saint which happened in the year 167. after the Nativity of Jesus Christ on the 23d day of February is described after a most elegant manner in the Excellent Epistle of the Church of Smyrna to those of Pontus produced in part by Eusebius in the Fifteenth Chapter of the fourth Book of his History and published entirely first by Archbishop Ushâ—r and afterward by Valesius They there give an account that S. Polycarp did not voluntarily surrender himself to his Executioners but that he waited after the example of our Saviour untill he was deliverd into their hands that many Christians suffered before him with admirable constancy all the Torments imaginable that
be separated from it by some great Sin that if we understood it of Corporeal Bread the meaning is that we are not to beg of God what is necessary for our Sustenance every day unless we carry our desires farther That in praying to God that he would Forgive us our Trepasses we acknowledge that we Trespass continually and impose upon our selves at the same time a Law not to obtain remission but only upon condition that we forgive our Brethren the Trespasses they have committed against us When we desire of God that he would not permit us to fall into Temptation we intimate that our Enemy has no Power over us if God does not give him leave to tempt us and that he never gives him leave but for two Reasons either to punish us for our Sins or else to try us That the Lord's Prayer concludes at last with a Petition which is a sort of of an Abridgment of all the rest for when we beseech God to deliver us from all Evil by his Almighty Power nothing more remains for us to ask In the fourth part he tells us that Jesus Christ has instructed us to pray as well by his Example as by his Words and since he who was without Sin pray'd often certainly we who are Sinners are to pray continually In the fifth he recommends vigilancy and attention in our Devotions exhorting us to think upon nothing but only him to whom we address our selves and to banish all carnal Thoughts out of our Hearts To impress the greater Authority upon this Exhortation he takes notice of the Prayer which the Priest repeated at that time when he celebrated the Eucharist saying Sursum corda Lift up your Hearts and observes that the People answer'd We lift them up to the Lord. In the sixth part he advises all Christians not to content themselves with vain barren Prayers but to joyn Alms giving and other Actions of Piety to them And lastly in the seventh part he discourses of the time of Prayer after he has taken notice what are the most solemn hours to Pray in He concludes with affirming that Christians ought to Pray to God at all times and since the serious performance of these duties will procure for them one day everlasting Happiness they ought even now to begin to thank God This Treatise of St. Cyprian was so highly approved by St. Austin that he recommended it to the Monks of Adrumetum to whom he addressed his Book about Grace and Free-will to read it over carefully and to learn it by Heart and he observes that this Saint speaks after such a manner in this Treatise as shews that he was perswaded we ought to pray to God to give us his Grace to perform what he commands us to do in his Law And indeed amongst all the Treatises that were composed in the first Ages of the Church perhaps there is not one that ascribes so much to the Grace of Jesus Christ as this does or contains more formal Passages to prove the efficacy and necessity of it The Exhortation to Martyrdom directed to Fortunatianus at a time when the Christians expected the Persecution of Gallus and Volusian was writ in the Year 253. 'T is a Collection of Texts of Scripture to excite all Christians to confess the Name of Jesus Christ Courageously and to suffer Martyrdom for the Truth In the first Chapter he cites those places that discover the vanity of Idols In the second those that shew that we must only Worship God In the third those that mention the severe Punishments wherewith God threatens to visit those that Sacrifice to Idols In the fourth and fifth those that declare that God will not easily pardon Idolatry but punishes those with Death who counsel others to adore Idols In the sixth he urges those Texts that may induce us to consider that since we have been redeemed and enlivened by Jesus Christ we ought not to prefer any thing before him since he himself prefer'd nothing before us In the seventh those that represent to us that since we have once escaped the Snares of the Devil and the Ambushes of the World we ought to take heed that we fall into them no more but make the best use of that delivery In the eighth those that recommend Perseverance in the Faith and all other Virtues In the ninth those that shew that Persecutions and Afflictions are sent only to try us In the tenth those that give us Consolation and teach us not to be afraid since God is more powerful to Protect us than the Devil to Overcome us In the eleventh those that prove that it was foretold that the World would hate us and stir up Persecutions against us and that good Men always suffered In the last there is a Collection of Texts to encourage Christians to suffer Martyrdom out of hopes of finding a sufficient recompence in Heaven Here is an Abridgment of this Treatise made by St. Cyprian himself which he sent at the end of his Letter to Fortunatianus to whom he Dedicates this Book He observes in this Letter that it is the duty of the Bishop to train and exercise those Soldiers whom Jesus Christ has committed to his Charge and that Observations drawn out of the Holy Scripture are the best Arms he can give them The Treatise of Mortality was composed gg Upon the occasion of the Infection It had its rise in Arabia then spread it self in Aegypt and Africa from whence it passed into all the West It was an Epidemical Distemper a great deal worse than a common Pestilence It began under the Empire of Gallus and Volusian and lasted several Years it raged with twice the violence under the Empire of Galienus as we have already observed This Treatise was written in the Year 253 or 254. upon occasion of a certain Pestilence that afflicted the Roman Empire but principally Africk the Year after the Death of Gallus and Volusian He shews in his Treatise that Christians ought not to be afraid of Sickness or Calamities but that they rather ought to wish for them since they furnish them with an opportunity to exercise their Patience and to merit the Rewards of Heaven that they ought not to fear Death but rather to desire it since it delivers them from all the miseries of this Life and unites them to Jesus Christ for ever that we ought not to be surprized that the Pestilence seizes Christians as well as Pagans since all the miseries of the Flesh are equally common to both nay that a Christian ought to suffer more than the other that the difference that ought to be between him and one that does not know God is that the latter complains and suffers his Evils with impatience whereas a Christian shews his Faith at such a juncture by being not afraid of Death and his Vertue in bearing every thing patiently and his Charity in helping his Neighbour that thought the Good dye as well as the Bad yet their end is
that ye do not dig down to Hell where ye will find your Masters Corah Dathan and Abiram So pleasantly does Optatus ridicule the folly of the Donatists But from this Raillery he quickly passes to most bloody Accusations Ye have also redoubled your Sacrileges in breaking the Chalices which carried the Blood of Jesus Christ ye have melted them down to make Ingots of Gold or Silver which you have Sold in the Markets to every one indifferently that offer'd to buy them Sacrilegious Persons as you are you have not shown the least respect to those Chalices wherein you your selves have offer'd Perhaps infamous Women bought them for their own use Perhaps the Pagans took them to make Vessels wherewith they might offer Incense to their Idols O enormous Crime O unheard of Impiety This Declamation of Optatus clearly shews what is the Reverence that we ought to pay to the Sacrament of the Eucharist and evidently proves that it was not consider'd merely as Bread and Wine but that it was believ'd to be the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The Donatists answer'd to these Accusations That those Vessels having been touch'd by polluted Persons were thereby become unclean as 't is said by the Prophet Haggai That which is touch'd by an impure Man becomes unclean From whence they concluded that they had reason to make no further use of them but to consider them as common and ordinary Vessels As if a belief that the Eucharist was instituted for a Remembrance of the Death of Christ and of the Benefits which we receive thereby had not been sufficient to have commanded Reverence to those Instruments with which it was perform'd Optatus answers them by shewing That the Catholicks were not defil'd with any Crime that they had not Sacrific'd to Idols That no such Accusation could be prov'd against them That the only thing that could render them odious to the Donatists was their Love of Peace and their endeavours after Union That they are united by Communion with all the Churches of the World and that they cannot be accus'd of being defil'd but supposing that even the Catholicks were unclean yet the Vessels which they touch'd at the Invocation of the Name of God would not be so because that Sacred Name Sanctifies even that which is unclean That the touch of an unclean Person has less Power to render a Vessel impure than the Invocation of God has to purify it since 't is the Invocation and not the Touch that Sanctifies it The Second Accusation that Optatus makes against the Donatists is their putting under Penance the Virgins Consecrated to God and making them leave off the Signs of their former Profession and forcing them to desire a New one and doing violence unto them In this place he speaks of a little Mitre of Cloth which they put upon their Heads and of the Veil wherewith they cover'd them and says That those Ornaments were Signs that they had profess'd Virginity and that the Donatists by taking them away from those Virgins to put them under Penance had given occasion to many Persons to Ravish and Marry them He adds that the Donatists had carried away by force the Ornaments of Churches and the Holy Books and that they had wash'd the Vestments the Walls and the Floors of the Churches with Salt-Water He laughs at their folly and asks them Why they wash'd the Vestments and did not also wash the Books of the Gospel Why they wash'd the Walls which are only look'd upon And why they did not also wash the Pavement of the Streets and how they would make use of that Water wherewith the Catholicks had wash'd themselves At last he accuses them of invading the Coemiteries and hindering the Interment of the Catholicks Wherefore do you abuse the Dead says he to them that you may terrify the Living Why do you deny them Burial If you have any Differences with your Brother while he is alive yet Death should put an End to them all Why do you insult over him after Death Why do you refuse him Burial Why do you quarrel even with the Dead But says he if you could hinder his Body from being Interr'd among other Christians yet you cannot separate his Soul from the Company of those Holy Souls that are with Jesus Christ. At last Optatus says That the Donatists were so extravagantly wicked that they corrupted all those that came over to their Party So those that were Patient says he by going over to you become Furious of the sudden those that were Faithful become Perfidious those that were Peaceable become Quarrelsome their Simplicity is chang'd into Cheating their Modesty into Impudence their Humility into Pride Those who are gone over to your Party sollicite others to come after them and accuse of Sloth and Stupidity all those that are yet in the Bosom of the Church they lay Traps for them and make them to fall into the same precipice with themselves The last Book which is commonly attributed to Optatus is a Recapitulation of some Points that have been handled in other places particularly he refutes the Objection of the Donatists who say That they cannot re-unite themselves to the Catholicks because they are the Sons and Successors of Traditors The Author of this Book extenuates as much as he can the Enormity of this Crime and shows that tho' it were much greater and that those to whom the Catholick Bishops succeed were guilty of it yet they have no share in that Guilt neither can it be imputed to them nor alledg'd against them as a just Cause of Separation He shews that we ought sometimes to suffer sinners in the Church and to dissemble the Sins of our Brethren for the good of Peace He observes That there is no Man free from Sin and that if any one were so yet he ought not to separate from his Brethren though they were Sinners That the Apostles did not separate from the Communion of St. Peter after his Sin but on the contrary the Keys were given him that he being a Sinner might open the Gates of Heaven to the Innocent and teach those that are Innocent that they should not shut them against Sinners Besides these there are many other Repetitions of what had been said by Optatus concerning Macarius and the Persecution that he rais'd against the Donatists Optatus at the End of his Books had plac'd many authentick Instruments to justifie the Matters of Fact which he had propos'd against the Donatists we have none of those which Optatus plac'd there extant but many other Monuments concerning the History of the Donatists have been added to his Books The First is a part of the Acts of the Conference between the Catholick Bishops and the Donatists held at Carthage by the Order of the Emperour Honorius in the Year 411 which belongs to another Century The Second is part of the Verbal Process made by Zenophilus who had been Consul on the 30th of December in the Year 320 by which it
appears That Silvanus who ordain'd Majorinus had given up the Holy Books to the Heathens Zenophilus there examines a Grammarian nam'd Victor a Deacon nam'd Castus and a Sub-Deacon call'd Crescentianus and makes them confess That Silvanus had deliver'd up the Ornaments of the Church and the Holy Books according to the Deposition of Nundinarius the Deacon who was present He causes also the Verbal Process made in the Year 363. to be read by Munatius Felix Judge of the Colony of Cirtha who further confirm'd the Deposition of Nundinarius The Letters written to Silvanus by the Bishops of his own Party are set down wherein they reprehend him for his outrageous manner of treating his Deacon Nundinarius He is accus'd also of making a Simonaical Ordination of appropriating to his own use the Alms that were given for the Poor and of being ordain'd himself by the Sollicitation of some Country Fellows There are many things very remarkable in this Act For there one may see That at the Beginning of the 3d. Age of the Church they us'd Chalices of Silver and Gold Cups Lamps and Candlesticks of Silver and Copper That they kept in the Church Garments for the Poor That the Readers who were very numerous had the Holy Books That the Christians had a Library near the Church where they put their Books The Third Record is also part of a Verbal Process concerning the Justification of Felix of Aptungis made by Aelianus the Proconsul in the Year 314 in the Month of February as appears by St. Augustin There he examines one nam'd Ingentius and Convicts him of making an Addition to a Letter of Caecilian that he might falsly accuse Felix of being a Traditor The Fourth is a Letter of the Emperour Constantine to Ablabius wherein he orders him to send Caecilian to Arles with some Bishops of his Party as well as some of his Accusers that he might receive Judgment from the Council which was to assemble there The Fifth is a Letter from the Council of Arles of which we have spoken in its place The Sixth is the Letter which Constantine wrote against the Donatists when they appeal'd to his Judgment after they had been condemn'd in the Council of Arles The Seventh is another Letter of the same Emperour wherein he acquaints the Bishops of Donatus's Party That he once design'd to send Judges into Africk to determine their Differences with Caecilian but that he judg'd it more proper to make him come before himself The Eighth is a 4th Letter of the same Emperour written to Celsus wherein he acquaints him That he will quickly come into Africk to decide the Differences between Donatus and Caecilian himself The Ninth is a 5th Letter of Constantine wherein he gives the Donatist Bishops leave to return into Africk The Tenth is a 6th Letter of this Emperour about the Cause of the Donatists address'd to the Catholicks of Africk He tells them That he had done all that lay in his Power to re-establish Peace but since the Obstinacy of some Men had frustrated his good Intentions they must now wait upon God only for the Remedy of this Mischief and that till it pleas'd the Divine Mercy to remedy it they must proceed with Moderation and bear with Patience the Insolence of the Enemies of the Church That they must not render Evil for Evil since Vengeance is reserv'd to God only and that by suffering patiently the Fury of these Insolent Men they should certainly merit the Glory of Martyrdom For says he Is not this to Fight and Conquer for God to bear with Patience the Outrages and Injuries of the Enemies of God's People At last he assures the Catholicks That if they observe this Method they will quickly see their Enemies Party weakned and that God will give Grace to many to acknowledge their Error and do Penance The following Letter is a further Indication of the Meekness of this Emperour and the Moderation of the Catholicks The Donatists had invaded the Church which Constantine had caus'd to be built in Constantina a City of Numidia which the Catholicks demanded back again but they refus'd it The Catholicks to avoid all further Contention pray'd the Emperour to give them a Place in the Dependances of his Demesnes thereabouts where they might Build another Church To which Constantine answer'd That he did not only grant their Desire but he had also written to the Receiver of his Revenues to furnish them with so much Money as was necessary for the Building of this Church In this Letter he praises the Moderation of the Catholicks and condemns the Obstinacy of the Donatists and ordains That the Laws which he had made for Exemption of the Clergy from all Publick Taxes should be put in Execution The last of these Records which are added to the Books of Optatus is a Fragment of the Acts of the Passion of the Saints Dativus Saturninus Felix Ampelius and of some other African Martyrs made in the time of Anulinus and written by a Donatist This Piece contains some part of the Calumnies of the Donatists against Mensurius and Caecilian The Author of these Acts accuses them of hindring the Faithful from carrying Food to the Christians that were in Prison and of beating them back with blows of Whips and Cudgels He adds That these Martyrs would never communicate with Mensurius nor Caecilian because they had deliver'd up the Holy Books to the Heathens and that the Church of Christ being Holy ought not to hold Communion with those that are defil'd with a Crime of this heinous Nature At last he says That those Martyrs who wanted Food by the Cruelty of Mensurius and Caecilian died of Famine in Prison and went to Heaven there to receive the Crown of Martyrdom The Stile of Optatus's Books is noble vehement and close but not enough Polite or Neat. He presses briskly upon those against whom he Disputes and describes very sensibly the Transactions which he relates and explains the Passages which he produces with a great deal of Wit He gives his Thoughts a fine and delicate turn his Expressions signifie very perfectly what he means to say his Reasonings are subtile and his Relations pleasant In a word It appears that the Author of this little Book was Master of much Learning and Wit The Doctrine which he teaches is and always will be of much use to the Church for there is not the same Reason of those Questions which concern the Truth of the Church as of those that concern only some particular Doctrines These continue only so long as the Sect subsists which opposes these Doctrines and the Books which treat of them become almost useless whenever the Heresie is extinct But all Heresies all Schisms having one common Principle of opposing the Church the Books which are written in its Defence are contrary to all Heresies and will be useful as long as there shall be any Hereticks in the World whosoever they be The Books of Optatus teach us also a
upon the Praises of Shepherds and gives a Catalogue of the Great Men who had kept Flocks Towards the end he makes a Digression against the Arians 't is believ'd that this Mamas suffer'd under the Emperour Aurelian The Panegyrick upon the Martyr Barlaam is a very short Discourse wherein he praises this generous Confessor who had endur'd with Constancy the burning of his Hand rather than suffer the Incense to fall into a little Box which was upon the Profane Altar of an Idol The Ascetical Treatises of St. Basil are very useful not only to the Monks but also to all those that make Profession of Piety and contain the Rules of the Morality of Jesus Christ which agree to all the World The three First Treatises which are at the beginning of the Asceticks are distinct Discourses which have no Reference to them though the First is entituled A Preface to the Asceticks 'T is an Exhortation to those who have embrac'd a Monastick Life wherein he endeavours to persuade them that they are engag'd as Souldiers in a Spiritual Warfare and that they ought to fulfill all the Obligations of it The Second also is An Exhortation to a Monastick Life wherein he represents the Advantages of Celibacy and of the Practices of Religion The Third which is entituled Of a Monastick Life contains many Precepts which concern those who retire from the World These three Treatises are distinct Discourses but the two following of Faith and Judgment are the Preface or the First Book of the Asceticks We must begin with the Book of Judgment and joyn to it that of Faith which ends with a little Preface to the Asceticks and all these make only one Preface to the whole Work He declares there that having been educated in the Christian Religion and instructed from his Youth in the Doctrine of the Holy Books when he came to the Years of discretion he perceiv'd that there was much Union among the Professors of Arts and Sciences but that he found great Divisions in the Church of Jesus Christ that he was sometime in doubt which Party he should choose and that meditating upon this Subject he came to know that the greatest Evil was Schism and Division which proceeded from the Ignorance and Sin of those who did not obey the Commands of God and follow'd not his Law That having afterwards reflected upon the terrible Judgments of God upon these Persons he believ'd himself oblig'd to adhere to the Faith of the Church and to meditate on those Precepts of the Holy Scripture which concern the manners and behaviour of Men That being then persuaded that nothing but Faith working by Love would avail any thing he believ'd that t was Necessary after the Explication of the Faith of the Church and the Doctrine which is to be held concerning the Trinity to write a Book of Manners This Conclusion of the Book of Judgment shews that after it follow'd the Treatise of Faith wherein he says many fine things concerning the Vertue of Faith and then Expounds the Doctrine of the Church and makes Profession of the Divinity of the Son and the Holy Spirit whom he affirms to be of the same Substance with the Father He Exhorts those to whom he wrote to keep to the Simplicity of this Faith which is founded upon the Authority of the Holy Scripture and he prays God that they may always continue inviolably fix'd in it At last having explain'd this Faith he declares That he has collected into one Body many Precepts taken out of the New Testament These Precepts are comprised in 80 Rules divided into several Chapters To these must be joyn'd the 84 Great Rules and the 313 Small ones which are answers to several Moral Questions that comprehend all that is most Excellent in Christian Morality These are they which make up the Body of St. Basil's Ethicks or Asceticks divided into Two Books as we have observ'd They may be consulted concerning all the Offices and Actions of a Christian Life They may be useful to all States and Conditions and one may say that St. Basil has there collected and methodically digested all the Practical Part of the Gospel Upon which Account Photius had Reason to say That whosoever shall follow these Precepts shall undoubtedly be sav'd The Book of the Instructions of Monks and of Monastical Constitutions are two Books distinct from the Asceticks which contain many Precepts and Rules for the Monks that are not so general nor so useful to all the World as the Treatise of Morality To know the Genius and Doctrine of St. Basil we can address our selves to none better than to his Faithful Friend Gregory Nazianzen See then how he speaks of him He compares his Eloquence to a Trumpet sounding in the Air to a Divine Word which shall be spread over the whole Earth to a wonderful Whirl-wind raised after a very Surprizing Manner He says That he has div'd into the most hidden Secrets of the Holy Scripture which he has made use of to Instruct all Men and to make them lose the Relish of things present and fall in Love only with things to come That his Writings are the Object of the Admiration of all Persons and the Pleasure and Study of all Men of worth The Authors that wrote after him says he say nothing but what they have drawn out of his Works The Ancients are neglected and nothing is minded but what he has said anew In a word He alone is sufficient to make an able Man When I read his Treatise of the Creation adds St. Gregory methinks I am present with the Creator when I light upon the Books which he wrote against Hereticks methinks I see the Fire of Sodom which reduc'd those criminal Tongues to ashes when I peruse what he has written of the Holy Spirit I acknowledge the God whom I possess and I make no Scruple to publish boldly the Truth when I read the Explications of Scripture which he has made for the Illiterate I understand the deep Abysses of Mysteries when I hear his Panegyricks of the Martyrs I despise my own Body I fansie my self present with those whom he praises and I feel my self excited to the Combat when I set my self to read the Discourses which he has written concerning Morals and the manner of living Well my Heart and my Soul are purified that they may become the Temple of the Holy Spirit they reform me they instruct me they change me and lead me unto Vertue We are not here to think That St. Gregory Nazianzen in saying all this heightned the Matter as an Orator or flattered him as a Friend what he says is very true and there is not any Author whose Writings make a greater Impression than those of St. Basil He describes things so lively he explains his Reasons with so much force he urges them so vigorously he makes such loathsome Portraictures of Vice such persuasive Exhortations to Vertue he gives so large and so profitable Instructions that
But nothing is more pleasant than his Invention of the Heresy of the Puteorites which he founds upon that Passage of Jeremy They have forsaken me the Fountain of Living Water to make to themselves broken Cisterns That which he founds upon the 8th Ch. of Ezekiel is not better grounded Never any but he mentioned the Herefies of Judas of the Passalorinchites the Rhelorians the Discalceati and some others Of one and the same Heresy he many times makes many and in a word he reckons the number of Heresies not by the Sects but by every particular Opinion In our days he might have multiplied at a much greater rate the number of Heresies by counting as many Errors as have been invented by one or other and sometimes he puts in the number of Heresies those Opinions that are true or at least problematically disputed c He puts in the number of Heresies those Opinions that are true or at least problematical As in Heresy 26 that the Soul of Samuel was brought back by the Witch of Endor in the 59th the Error of the Millenaries in the 79th that the Elements shall not perish in the 88th that the Epistle to the Hebrews may be St. Luke's or St. Barnabas's in the 63d that there are more than 7 Heavens in 94 that there is no other Earth but this in 96 that the likeness of Man to God may be explain'd with relation to his Body in 97 that the Breath which God inspir'd into Man was his Soul in 101 that Earthquakes are natural Effects in 102 and 111 that the Names of prophane Gods may be given to the Stars in 110 that the number of Years since the Creation is not certain in 126 that David was not the Author of all the Psalms in 129 that the Stars are fasten'd to Heaven in 137 and those that follow that we may follow another Version besides that of the Seventy and some others in the 56th he condemns those that admit Ecclesiasticus as a Canonical Book And therefore we need not wonder that he made so numerous a Catalogue of Heresies which he also multiplied by mentioning one and the same Heresy many times The Stile of this Author is mean and flat he had no great Learning and has committed many gross Faults d Many gross Faults There are an infinite number of them in this Book take some few of them He places the Ophites the Gaianites and the Troglodites among the Hereticks which were before Jesus Christ which is an Error in Chronology He says the Samaritans came from a King call'd Samarius the Son of Canaan What a strange Mistake is here He says that Mercurius Trismegistus came to the Celtae and taught them to adore the Sun He affirms that the God Accaron was a Fly He supposes that not only Simon Magus Basilides c. but also Cerdon Marcion and many other Hereticks publish'd their Errors while the Apostles were alive a wonderful Mistake in Chronology There are many more in it of this Nature in this little Tract which is not written with any exactness Yet there are some remarkable things in it e There are some remarkable things in it He confirms in many places the Immortality and Spirituality of the Soul and chiefly in Heresy 122. In Haeres 87. he admits as Canonical the Two Epistles of St. Peter that of St. Jude and the Three Epistles of St. John He explains the Mystery of the Trinity in Haeres 91 92. He discourses of Grace in Haeres 97. He says very curious things about the Diversity and Gift of Tongues in Haeres 103 104. He rejects in 105 the Opinion of those who thought that the Day of Judgment should happen 363 Years after Jesus Christ. In 106 he rejects the Opinion of those who imagin'd that the Sons of Men spoken of in Genesis were Angels In the 112 he laughs at those that say there are many Worlds In Haeres 116. he plainly admits Original Sin In 121 he rejects the Opinion of those who believ'd that Jesus Christ descended into Hell and preach'd the Gospel there to all the Damned and that those of them who believ'd in him were sav'd In 129 he explains the Eternal Generation of the Word In 124 he teaches that Men ought to run in the Ways of Vertue and to desire what is Good but they ought not to do it with Pride and Haughtiness for they should acknowledge that they cannot deserve Salvation by their own Works but by the Mercy of Jesus Christ that it is indeed in our Power to run but we ought to hope for greater things from God and therefore we ought not to magnify our selves and say I can be a Martyr I can be an Apostle but we must add If Jesus Christ will Because it is from him that we obtain these Graces and they are not to be acquir'd by a vain Presumption In Heresy 144 he observes that the Church celebrates Four Solemn Fasts before Christmas before Epiphany before Easter and before Whitsunday I leave the other Observations to those who will take the pains to read this little Tract whose brevity is one of its best Qualities This Treatise was printed at Basle in 1528 and at Helmstadt in 1611 and in 1614 and with St. Austin's Book of Heresies in several places and in the Bibliotheca Patrum TIMOTHY of Alexandria TIMOTHY the Successor of Peter of Alexandria who was present at the Second Council of Constantinople wrote the Lives of the Monks of Egypt which is mention'd by Sozomen Ch. 29. Timothy of Alexandria of B. VI. of his History Facundus in Ch. 2. of B. IV. cites a Letter of the same Timothy address'd to Diodorus of Tarsus We have now the Responses or Canon-Laws of this Bishop upon which Balsamon has written Commentaries The Questions that were propos'd to him were Questions about Customs and Practices of the Church and his Answers are very Judicious In the First he says that those young Catechumens ought to be Baptiz'd who being present in the Church with the Faithfull had receiv'd the Eucharist The Second and Third concern those that are possess'd by an Evil Spirit he says that those Catechumens ought not to be baptiz'd who are afflicted with this Evil until the Point of Death As to the Faithful he would have them permitted from time to time to approach the Holy Mysteries provided the Devil do not seduce them to discover these Mysteries or to blaspheme them In the 4th he says that those Catechumens may be Baptiz'd who have lost their Wits by Sickness In the 5th he counsels married Persons to abstain from the use of Marriage on that day in which they intend to Receive the Communion In the 6th and 7th he would not have Women Baptiz'd nor Receive the Communion but at certain times In the 8th he exempts Women newly brought to Bed from the Fast of Lent Because says he Fasting was not appointed but to afflict the Body and therefore where the Body is
Lastly he declares That the trouble he was in when they spake of making him Bishop made him resolve to hide himself He sets forth this trouble by two Comparisons the one by describing the vexation which a Princess incomparable both for Beauty and Vertue might be in who being passionately beloved by a Prince should be forced to marry a mean and contemptible Man the other by describing the astonishment of a Clown that was forced to take upon him the Conduct of both a great Land-Army and of a Navy that was ready to give Battel to a dreadful Enemy He concludes by comforting Basil who was afflicted to see himself ingaged in so hard an Employment and loaded with so heavy a Burden Some say that he writ these excellent Books when he was very young which is not likely Others think with Socrates That he composed them while he was a Deacon but it seems rather that he made them in his Retirement before he was ordained Deacon about the Year 376. The three Books in defence of a Monastical Life against those that blamed that state were the first fruits of S. Chrysostom's Retreat In the first he argues for a Monastical way of life because of the usefulness and necessity of separating from the World In the Second he answers the Gentiles who complained that their Children forsook them to retire into desart places and then he comforts the Christians who were troubled to see themselves bereaved of their Children that embraced a Solitary Life to dwell in Wildernesses He affirms in these Books That a Monk is more glorious more powerful and richer than a Man of the World representing the great difficulty of saving our selves in the World and how hard it is to bring up Children to Christianity and comparing the condition of a Monk with that of Saints and Angels The short Discourse upon the comparison of a Monk with a Prince is upon the same Subject He shews That Men are mistaken who preferr the condition of Kings before that of Monks and retired Men. First Because the greatness of Kings ends with them whereas the advantages of a retired Life continues after death 2. Because the advantages of Retirement are much more considerable than the Fortune of Great Men. 3. Because it is more glorious for a Man to command his Passions than to rule whole Nations 4. Because the War of a Monk is nobler than that of a great Captain and his Victory more certain the one fights against invisible Powers and the other against mortal Men the one engages for the defence of Piety and the honour of God the other for his own Interest or Glory 5. Because a Prince is a charge to himself and to others by reason of those many things which he needs whereas a Monk wants nothing does good to all and by his Prayers obtains those Graces which the most powerful Princes cannot give 6. Because the loss of Piety may sooner be repaired than the loss of a Kingdom Lastly Because after death a Monk goeth in splendor to meet Jesus Christ and entreth immediately into Heaven whereas tho' a King seems to have ruled his Kingdom with Justice and Equity a thing very rare yet they shall be less glorious and not so happy there being a great difference in point of Holiness between a good King and a holy Monk who hath bestowed all his time and care upon praising God But if this King hath lived ill who can express the greatness of those punishments that attend him He concludeth in these words Let us not admire their Riches nor preferr their happiness before that of these poor Monks Let us never say that this rich Man is happy because he is cloathed with sumptuous Apparel carried in a fine Coach and followed by many Footman These Riches and great Pomps last but for a time and all the Felicity that attends them ends with the Life whereas the Happiness of Monks endures for ever It was likewise in his Solitude that he writ the two Books of Compunction of Heart whereof the first is dedicated to Demetrius and the second to Stelechius In these Books he discourses of the necessity and conditions of a true and sincere Repentance affirming That Christians ought to have their sins always in view to abhorr them with all their Heart to lament and continually beg of God the forgiveness of them That this sorrow ought to be a motion of that Charity which the Holy Ghost inspireth into our Hearts and to be animated with the fire of a Divine Love which consumeth sin and is accompanied with a Spirit of Mortification and Disinteressedness from the Goods of this World with an esteem of the Treasures of Heaven and of Spiritual Vertues He saith in the first Book That it is not Grace only which makes us do good since we ought our selves to contribute on our part all that depends upon our Wills and Strength wherefore saith he God's Grace is given to every one of us but it abideth only in the Hearts of them that keep the Commandments and departeth from them that correspond not with it neither doth it enter into their Souls who begin not to turn to the Lord. When God converted S. Paul he foresaw his good Will before he gave him his Grace The Three Books of Providence were composed by S. Chrysostom when he came out of his Solitude and returned to Antioch There he comforteth a Friend of his one Stagirius who having quitted the World was so tormented with an Evil Spirit that he was ready to fall into Despair exhorting him to look upon that affliction as a Grace of God rather than a Punishment for as much as it appears by the most notable Examples both of the old and of the new Law that from Adam to S. Paul Troubles and Afflictions have commonly been the lot of the Saints and Righteous Men For this reason these Books are intituled Of Providence because they clear that great Question which so much perplexed the learned Gentiles Why the Righteous are afflicted and persecuted if there be a Providence over-ruling the things of the World He sheweth there that this Question hath no difficulty if Men believe that there is another Life a Heaven and a Hell For saith he since every one is punished or rewarded in another World to what end are we concerned at what happens in this If wicked Men only were persecuted here we should easily believe that out of this World there is neither Punishments nor Rewards and were there none but good Men in affliction Vertue might be looked upon as the cause of Adversity and Crimes the reason of Prosperity Of necessity therefore there must be in this World righteous and wicked Men some happy and others unhappy He adds That by God's permission the Righteous are afflicted to expiate their sins and to correct them for their faults He saith further That God makes use of the Righteous Man's Fear to oblige others to look to themselves and to
could not do it so well in Latin This Custom was found so reasonable that several Bishops in Africa followed his Example admitting Priests to Preach in their Presence yea they did St. Augustin the Honour to make him Speak in a General Council of Africa held at Carthage in the year 393. where he Expounded the Creed in the Presence of the Bishops who conceived so great an Esteem of his Learning that they judged him worthy of a more excellent Dignity But Valerius fearing lest a Person so necessary for the Government of his Diocess should be taken away from him resolved to make him his Co-adjutor and accordingly two years after he caused him to be Ordained Bishop of Hippo by Megalius Bishop of Calama then Primate of Numidia in the year 395. With much difficulty St. Augustin consented to that Ordination though he did not then know as he afterwards declar'd that it was contrary to the Laws of the Church and to a Canon of the Council of Nice which forbids the Crdaining Two Bishops in the same Church I shall not now give any Account of what he did and wrote whil'st he was Bishop because that will come in in the Abridgment of his Works Neither will I enlarge upon the Praises which may be given him nor upon his Holiness and his Vertues which were known and admir'd by all the World both before and after his Death This is no part of my Design besides the Name only of St. Augustin is the greatest Commendation that can be given him and whatsoever may be said after that can serve only to lessen the Opinion Men have conceived of his rare Merit and his great Piety He died as Holily as he had liv'd the 28th day of August 430. aged Seventy six Years with Grief to see his Countrey Invaded by the Vandals and the City whereof he was Bishop Besieged for several Months St. Augustin's Works make up several Volumes wherein they are divided according to that order which was judged to be most natural We shall follow that which is observed in the last Edition set forth by the Benedictines of St. Germans The First TOME of St. Augustin's Works THE First Volume containeth the Works which he wrote before he was a Priest with his Retractations and Confessions which serve as Prefaces to his Works because the First giveth Tome I. an Account of his Writings and is useful to understand the most difficult places of his Works and the Second discovers his Genius and takes notice of the principal Circumstances of his Life The Book of Retractations is a Critical Review of his Works He tells you there the Title and sets down the first Words of them He gives a Catalogue according to the Time and he observes upon what Occasion and wherefore he writ them he tells the Subject and the Design which he had in composing them he clears those places which seem to be obscure he softens those which he thinks are too hard gives a good Sence to such as seem capable of having a bad one and rectifies them where he thinks that he erred from the Truth In one word He confesseth ingenuously the Errours or Mistakes which he committed The Preface to this Work is very humble He says That his Design is to review his Works with the Severity of a Censor and to reprove his own Faults himself following therein the Apostle's Advice who saith That if we judge our selves we should not be judged of the Lord. That he is frighted with those words of the Wise-man That it is difficult to avoid committing Faults in much speaking That he is not terrify'd with the great number of his Writings since none can be said to Write or Speak too much when he Speaks and Writes only things that are necessary but he is afraid lest there should be in his Writings many false things or at least unprofitable ones That if now being Old he thinketh not himself free from Errour it is impossible but that he must have committed Faults when he was Young either in Speaking or in Writing and so much the rather because he was then obliged to Speak often That therefore he is resolved to judge himself according to the Rules of Jesus Christ his Master whose Judgments he desires to avoid The Body of this Work is divided into Two Books In the former he reviseth the Works which he writ before he was Bishop And in the latter he speaketh of those which he composed afterwards to the Year 427. which is the time when he made his Book of Retractations I need say no more at present because in discoursing of each of them I shall mention what St. Augustin hath observed in his Retractations His Confessions are an excellent Picture of his Life he draweth himself with lively and natural Shapes representing his Infancy his Youth and Conversion very critically He discovers both his Vices and his Vertues shewing plainly the inward Bent of his Heart with the several Motions wherewith he was agitated As he speaks to God so he often lifts up his Spirit towards him and intermixes his Narration with Prayers Instructions and Reflections He tells us himself That he would have us view him in that Book as in a Looking-Glass that represents him to the Life and that his Design in the Writing of it was to Praise both the Justice and the Mercy of God with Respect to the Good and Evil which he had done and to lift up his Heart and Spirit to God That this is the Effect that it produced in him when he composed it and that which it produceth now when he readeth it Others saith he may have what Opinion of it they please but I know that several Pious Persons have loved my Confessions very much and do St. Augustin Tome 〈◊〉 love them still As indeed all spiritual Persons have ever since read that Work with Delight and Admiration This Book is not full of whimsical Imaginations and empty obscure useless Spiritualities as most Works of this Nature are It contains on the contrary excellent Prayers sublime Notions of the Greatness Wisdom Goodness and Providence of God solid Reflections upon the Vanity Weakness and Corruption of Man proper Remedies for his Misery and Darkness and most useful Instructions to further him in a spiritual Life In one word It may be said that of all spiritual Books there is none more sublime or stronger than this Yet there are some Notions too Metaphysical above the reach of some devout Men and there appeareth too great an Affectation of Eloquence There is perhaps too much Wit and Heat and not enough of Meekness and Simplicity St. Augustin's Confessions are divided into Thirteen Books whereof the Ten first treat of his Actions and the Three last contain Reflections upon the beginning of Genesis In the First Book after an excellent Prayer to God he describeth his Infancy discovering the Sins he committed at that time as well as the evil Inclinations that were in him He
represents with all the beauty and exactness imaginable the things that are incident to Children their Motions of Joy and Sorrow their Jealousie before they can speak how hardly they learn to speak their aversion to Study their love of Play and the fear of Chastisement He charges himself with loving the Study of Fables and Poetical Fictions and hating the Principles of Grammar and particularly the Greek Tongue tho' these Things were infinitely more profitable than those Fables whereof he discovers the danger He says That being fallen dangerously Sick he desired to be Baptized but coming to have some Ease they deferred it fearing he might defile himself again with new Crimes Because saith he the Sins committed after Baptism are greater and more dangerous than such as are committed before In the Second he begins to describe the Disorders of his Youth he says That being returned to his Father's House at Sixteen years of Age he gave himself to debauchery notwithstanding his Mother's Admonitions That he was guilty of Theft by robbing an Apple-tree in a Neighbour's Orchard with his Companions with several Reflections upon the Motives that put him upon that Action In the Third he confesseth That at Carthage whither he was gone to finish his Studies he was transported with the fire of Lust. He laments the love which he had for Stage-Plays and Publick Shows and the Pleasure he found when they affected him at any time with Passion He declares afterwards That he read one of Cicero's Books Entituled Hortensius that inspired him with the love of Wisdom but not finding in that Book the Name of Jesus Christ which remained engraven in his Heart and which he had as it were suck'd in with his Milk he applied himself to the Holy Scripture but that having read it with a Spirit of Pride he relished it not because of the plainness of it's Stile and then he hearkened to the Dreams of the Manichees who promised to bring him to the Knowledge of the Truth He reâ—utes their Errors and speaks with great tenderness of the Prayers which his Mother made and the Tears that she shed for his Conversion He continued however Nine years in that Heresie being deceived and endeavouring to deceive others He taught Rhetorick at Tagasta There he lost one of his intimate Friends whose Death grieved him exceedingly whereof he describeth the Excess in the Fourth Book where he says many fine Things concerning true and counterfeit Friendship There he mentions the Treatise of Comeliness and Beauty which he made at Twenty five years of Age and gives an Account how easily he came to understand Aristotle's Categories And he shews the Unprofitableness of Learning In the Fifth he describes the degrees by which he came to be delivered from the Manichaean Heresie how he discovered Faustus his Ignorance who was the Head of that Heresie He adds That having taught Rhetorick at Carthage he went to Rome with a design to follow there the same Profession but having been disheartened by the unhandsom usage of the Scholars who refused to pay their Masters he obtain'd of Symmachus the place of Rhetorick-Professor at Milan where he heard St. Ambrose Preach who perfectly disabused him of the Errors of the Manichees and made him resolve absolutely to quit that Sect and become a Catechumen He goeth on in the Sixth Book to describe the Progress of his Conversion which was much furthered by the Prayers and Admonitions of his Mother S. Monica who came to find him at Milan and contracted a strict Friendship with St. Ambrose He observes That this Holy Bishop kept her from carrying Meat to the Graves of the Martyrs as she used to do in her own Country He describeth the Manners of two of his good Friends Alypius and Nebridius and the Agitations that were caused in himself by the knowledge of his Miseries and the design which he had to alter his course of Life In the Seventh Book he declares his Condition in the 31st year of his Age how much he was yet in the dark as to the Nature of God and the Spring of Evil how he was perfectly weaned from Judicial Astrology by hearing of the History of two Children that were born at the same moment of time whose lot proved quite different And lastly by what degrees he rid himself of his Prejudices and came to the knowledge of God though he had not as yet those thoughts of Jesus Christ which he ought to have had He declares That he found the Divinity of the Word in the Books of the Platonists but not his Incarnation And afterwards comparing the Books of those Philosophers with the Books of the Holy Scripture which he began to read he observeth that the former had made him more knowing but also more presumptuous Whereas the others instructed him in true Humility and in the way which Men ought to follow to obtain Salvation At last he comes in the Eighth Book to the best Passage of his Life to that which happened in the Two and thirtieth year of his Age which was his Conversion First of all he was wrought upon by a Conference which he had with a holy Old Man Simplicianus who related to him the Conversion of a famous Rhetorick-Professor named Victorinus He was further moved by the Story which Poâ—itiunus told him of another Conversion And at last feeling himself agitated and distracted by several contrary thoughts he withdrew into a Garden where he heard a Voice from Heaven commanding him to open St. Paul's Epistles whereof he had no sooner read some Lines but he found himself wholly converted and freed from the Agitations which till then had troubled him Nothing can be more noble than the Description which he makes in that Book of the Combats and Agitations which that man feels that is engaged in Vice and hath formed a design of being converted to God St. Augustin was no sooner converted but he resolved to leave his Profession The Vacation being come he retired to the Country-House of one of his Friends called Verecundus to prepare himself for Baptism which he received at Easter with Alypius and his Son Adeodatus whom he had by a Concubine This he relateth in the Ninth Book where he discourseth again of the Death of Verecundus and Nebridius and Adeodatus which happened shortly after his Baptism He speaketh likewise of the Original of the Singing in the Church of Milan that was established by St. Ambrose when he was persecuted by Justina an Arian Princess concerning the discovering of the Bodies of the Martyrs St. Gervasius and St. Protasius and of the Miracles done at the time of their Translation of the discourse he had with his Mother S. Monica about the Felicities of the other Life and of the Death of that holy Widow which happened at Ostia when he was returning into Africa of her Burial of the Prayers that were made for her and of the Sacrifice which was offered He concludes this Book by recommending her to the
Prayers of those that shall read his Confessions Having set forth in the foregoing Books what he was before his Conversion he sheweth in the Tenth what he was at the time of his writing He finds that his Conscience gave an unquestionable Testimony of his love to God He explains the Reasons that oblige Men to love God reckoning up all the Faculties of his Soul that can lead him to know God especially Memory whereof he makes a wonderful Description He says amongst other things that it serves to teach us many things which entred not into the Mind by the Senses and that it may lift us up to God He occasionally speaks of Happiness and of the Idea that Men have of God afterwards he examineth himself about the three main Passions of Man the love of Pleasures of Knowledge and of Glory He sincerely confesseth what was his disposition with respect to these Passions prescribing at the same time excellent Rules to keep our selves from them Lastly He discovers the knowledge of the true Mediatour and of the Graces which he merited for us The Three last Books are about less sensible Matters He waves the History of his Life to speak of the love which he had for the Sacred Books and of the Knowledge that God had given him of them which to show he undertakes to explain the beginning of Genesis upon which occasion he starts several very subtil Questions In the Eleventh he refuteth those that asked what God was doing before he created the World and how God on a sudden formed the design of creating any thing whereupon he enters into a long Discourse concerning the Nature of Time In the Twelfth Book he treateth of the first Matter He pretends that by the Heavens and the Earth which God is said to have created in the beginning we are to understand spiritual Substances and the shapeless Matter of corporeal things that the Scripture speaking of the Creation of these two sorts of Beings makes no mention of days because there is no time with respect to them He affirms That whatsoever he hath said concerning the World's Creation cannot be denied though the beginning of Genesis were otherwise expounded because these are undoubted Truths He treateth here of the different Explications which may be made of the Holy Scripture affirming That there is sufficient reason to believe that the Canonical Authors foresaw all the Truths that might be drawn from their words and though they had not foreseen these Truths yet the Holy Ghost foresaw them Whence he seems to conclude that we are not to reject any sence that may be given to the holy Scripture provided it is conformable to the Truth At last having admired the Goodness of God who standing in no need of the Creatures had given them not only a Being but also all the Perfections of that Being he discovereth in the last Book the Mystery of the Trinity in the first words of Genesis and even the Personal Property of the Holy Ghost which gives him an admirable opportunity of describing the Actions of Charity in our selves He concludes with a curious Allegory upon the beginning of Genesis and finds in the Creation the System and Oeconomy of whatsoever God hath done for the Establishment of his Church and the Sanctification of Men the only end which he proposed to himself in all his Works St. Augustin placeth the Books of Confessions before those against Faustus which were written about the Year 400 in his Retractations from whence we may conclude that these were both written about the same time After these two which serve as we have said for a Preface to all St. Augustin's Works you find in this first Volume the Books that St. Augustin writ in his Youth before he was a Priest in the same order in which they were written The three Books against the Academici are the first after the Treatise of Beauty and Comeliness which is lost He composed them in the Year 386 in his solitude when he prepared himself for Baptism They are written in imitation of Cicero in the form of a Dialogue and directed to Romanianus his Countryman whom he adviseth to Study Philosophy The dispute beginneth betwixt Licentius Son to Romanianus and Trygetius after them Alypius and St. Augustin begin to speak Having observed in the first Book that the good things of Fortune do not render men happy he exhorts Romanianus to the Study of Wisdom whose sweetness he then tasted He afterwards gives an Account of three Conferences which Licentius and Trygetius had had about Happiness Licentius held with the Academici That to be happy it was enough to seek after the Truth but Trygetius pretended That it was necessary to know it perfectly both being agreed That Wisdom is that which makes Men happy they begin to dispute about the definition of Wisdom Trygetius gives several all disapproved by Licentius who asserts That Wisdom consisted not only in Knowledge but also in the pursuit of the Truth whereupon St. Augustin concludes That since we cannot be happy without knowing and enquiring after the Truth our only application should be to seek for it In the Second Book having again exhorted Romanianus to the Study of Philosophy he sets down three other Conferences wherein Alypius produces the several Opinions of both the Ancient and Modern Academicks And because the latter said That some things were probable though the Truth was not known they laughed at that Opinion it being impossible say they to know whether a thing is like the Truth without knowing the Truth it self And this very thing obligeth Men to enquire the more carefully after likely and probable things according to the Principles of the Academicks The Third Book begins with Reflections upon Fortune St. Augustin shews That the Goods of Fortune are of no use to get Wisdom and that the Wise Man ought at least to know Wisdom refuting withall the Principles both of Cicero and of the other Academicks who affirmed That we know nothing and that nothing ought to be asserted He blames the damnable Maxim of those who permitted Men to follow every thing that seemed probable without being certain of any thing He shews the dangerous Consequences of such Principles and endeavours to prove that neither the ancient Academicks nor Cicero himself were of that Opinion These three Books are written with all imaginable Elegance and Purity The Method and Reasonings are just The Matter treated of is well cleared and made intelligible for all Men it is beautified with agreeable Suppositions and pleasant Stories It may be said That these Dialogues are not much inferior to Tully's for stile but much above them for the exactness and solidity of the Arguments and Notions In his Retractations he findeth fault with several places in them which seemed not to him sufficiently to savour of Christianity but might be born with in a Philosophical Work The Book of a Happy Life or of Felicity is a Work of the same Nature written
whatsoever because whatsoever is Sin in its own Nature can never be rectified by any good Intention He shews by the Examples of David and Lot that we are not always to imitate the Actions of Righteous Men. He excuseth Abraham and Isaac from Lying As for Jacob's Action he saith it was no Lye but a Mystery That there is no Example of any Lye in the New Testament because Tropes Parables and Figures cannot be called Lyes no more than what is said of Jesus Christ that in his Discourse with the Pilgrims who went to Emmaus he made as though he would have gone further that we are no more to imitate Thamar's Lye than Juda's Fornication that God rewarded not the Lye of the Egyptian Midwives but their Compassion towards the Israelites Children The same must be said of Rahab's Action In one word These Examples of Lyes taken out of the Old Testament are no Lyes or if they be they cannot be excused Lastly Whatsoever Pretence they may have Men are never permitted to betray the Truth for any Advantage how great soever it may be because they are never allowed to sin And indeed as St. Augustin observes once again It is a very dangerous thing to allow Lying upon some occasions because this Maxim may be stretched too far and upon the same Principles Perjury and Blasphemy may in time be allowed St. Augustin confesses in his Retractations that both these Treatises are very intricate and that he had a Design himself to suppress them The Book Of the Business of Monks is an excellent Satyr against some Monks who thought themselves exempted from working with their Hands because Christ hath said That we should take no care for the Morrow and so contented themselves with Praying Reading and Singing St. Augustin opposes to them both the Example and the Authority of St. Paul who plainly says That whosoever will not Work ought not to Eat He refutes the false Distinctions which they made to shift it of He proves That the true Sence of that Passage of the Gospel which they quoted did not exempt Men from Working but only banished the Ingratitude of worldly Men that to labour with ones Hands is not inconsistent with Prayer that it is so far from being unworthy of the Monastical State that it is part of it For saith he if a Rich Man makes himself a Monk what can there be more perfect than having quitted great Estates to be obliged to Labour to get Necessaries And if this new Convert be Poor and of mean Condition would not that be a criminal Nicety to desire to live more at Ease in a Monastery than he did before in the World Afterwards he draws the Picture of those idle Monks whom he calls Hypocrites in Monastical Habits with whom the Devil hath over-spread the World They travel saith he from Province to Province without any Mission they have no fix'd Habitation and abide in no place they continually alter their Station Some carry Relicks about if they be Relicks and make an Advantage of them Others take much upon them by reason of their Habit and Profession Some say they are going to see their Kindred who as they have heard dwell in such a Countrey But they all beg and take it ill if you give them not either to supply the Wants of such a Poverty as enricheth them or to Recompence a seeming and counterfeit Honesty EXIGUNT AUT SUMPTUS LUCROSAE EGESTATIS AUT SIMULATAE PRETIUM SANCTITATIS Lastly St. Augustin compares his own Condition with that of the Monks affirming That he would chuse the Life of a Regular Monastery to work at certain hours with his Hands and to have others for Prayer and pious Reading rather than to be subject to the Fatigues of Office and to be continually entangled with the secular Businesses of other Men. Towards the latter end he laughs at the fancy of those Monks who would never cut their Hair Nothing is more pleasant than the Answer which they made to that Passage of the Apostle where he forbids Men to let their Hair grow This said they is spoken for Ordinary Men but not for those that have made themselves Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven St. Augustin makes Sport with that ridiculous Notion of the Monks shewing them That they are Men as well as others This Book is in the Retractations among those that were written about the Year 400. The next Book is concerning the Predictions of Daemons wherein St. Augustin explains how they may Imagine and Foretell things and how they often Mistake shewing at the same time That Religion permits us not to Consult with them He supposes that Daemons have very subtile Bodies This small Treatise was composed in an Easter-Week of some of the Years betwixt 406 and 411. The Book of the Care which they ought to have of the Dead was written to answer that Question which St. Paulinus Bishop of Nola had proposed to St. Augustin in the Year 421. namely Whether a dead Man was any thing the better for being buried in the Church of some holy Martyr To this Question is added another To what purpose are the Church's Prayers for the Dead seeing that according to the Apostle's Maxim All Men shall be judged according to what they have done in this Life St. Augustin answereth That the Book of Maccabees establishes the Custom of Praying for the Dead and That though nothing of it were found in the Old Testament yet the Custom of the Church is sufficient to authorize that Practice which is done in the Administration of the Eucharist He is persuaded That the Honour of Burial doth neither Good nor Hurt to the Soul of the dead Person but yet that this Duty is to be pay'd to the Dead as a Testimony of the Respect which is due to the Memory of pious Persons That to be buried in a Martyrs Church doth nothing of it self but it serves to put the Faithful in mind of Praying for the Dead because the Devotion for the Martyr encreaseth the Fervency of Prayer But that commonly the Care of decent Burial proceeds from the Respect which Men have for the Body That Martyrs had Reason to lay aside that Care That the Scripture commends those that are careful to bury the Dead because it is a Token oâ— their Tenderness and Affection towards their Brethren St. Augustin speaks afterwards concerning Apparitions of the Dead by Dreams or otherwise and having mention'd several Examples he examineth how they come to pass He thinks it more rational to attribute them to the working of Angels who form those Idea's in the Imagination than to the Souls of the Dead He does not believe that they are present or that they take any notice at that time of the things that are done but that they are acquainted with them afterwards either by Angels or by the Souls of those that are dead or last of all by the Inspiration of God And by this last means he believes that the
doth not only help Man to do Good when he is willing but makes him willing to do it that the Saints of the Old Testament were only justified by Faith in Jesus Christ that Baptism is not only necessary to Children to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but also to obtain a share in Life eternal out of which they are excluded by original Sin alone In the Two next Books he refutes almost the same Calumnies contained in the other Letter of the Pelagians The Two First are about Free-Will and Marriage St. Augustin adds nothing to what he had said in the fore-going Book In the Third they taxed the Catholicks with introducing Fatality St. Augustin shews the difference betwixt Grace and Fate In the Fourth they accused them of maintaining That the Law was not given to Justifie Man but to render him more Sinful St. Augustin tells them That they did not understand the Opinion of the Church in that Point that the Law was given to teach what ought to be done but that it is Grace which makes us obey the Law and so the Law doth indeed shew what Righteousness is but doth not make us practise it Fifthly They upbraided the Catholicks with believing That Baptism did not remit all Sins so that Men continued partly God's Children and partly the Children of the Devil St. Augustin replies That Baptism doth indeed remit all Sins but it doth not cure Nature of its Weaknesses and Imperfections That the Righteous may and do Sin often without becoming therefore the Children of the Devil because there is no Man so Righteous as that he sinneth not The Sixth Calumny is concerning the Old Testament St. Augustin answereth That the Righteous who lived under the Old Testament were justified through the Grace of the New whereof the Old was only the Figure The Seventh is that the Apostles and Prophets were not perfectly Holy but only less criminal than others St. Augustin answers That they were truly Righteous through Faith and Charity but they had not all the perfection of Vertue which now they have in the other Life He utterly rejects the Ninth Calumny whereby they accused the Catholicks of saying That Jesus Christ had been subject to Sin The Tenth Calumny was expressed in these Terms They affirm That Men shall begin in the next Life to practise the Commandments which they did not practise in this St. Augustin opposes it shewing That they put an ill Construction upon a Catholick Truth which is That the Vertue and the Righteousness of Men shall only be perfect in the next Life In the last Book St. Augustin refutes the Pelagian Doctrines and shews That under pretence of commending Nature Marriage Free-VVill the Law and the Saints of the Old Testament they advanced very dangerous Errors to which he opposes several Testimonies of St. Cyprian and of St. Ambrose The Book of Grace and Free-Will was written by St. Augustin in the Year 427. upon a Dispute which happened in the Monastery of Adrumetum against those who fearing least by the Doctrine of Grace Free-VVill should be denied do indeed deny Grace by defending Free-VVill because they suppose that Grace is given according to Merit This last Error St. Augustin chiefly opposes in this Book shewing That the beginning both of Faith and good Resolutions is an effect of Grace The reading of this Book did not settle Peace among those Monks For there was an Objection proposed which was obvious enough to every Man's understanding If no Man can do Good without the Grace of God and this Grace cannot be merited no Man is to be reproved or corrected for not doing his Duty since it is not in his Power to do it because he wants Grace and cannot deserve it St. Augustin perceiving the Difficulty of this Objection for the Solution thereof composed the Book of Correction and Grace wherein without retracting any thing of what he had formerly said he affirms That Admonition is to be used 1. Because it may happen that God will touch the Heart of him that is reproved 2. Because Sinners sin voluntarily and without Compulsion and that they cannot complain that God hath denied them his Grace or the Gift of Perseverance since he owes his Grace to no body He does not content himself with Answering the Objection but further explains and confirms his Principles by shewing the difference betwixt the Grace of Adam in the State of Innocence and that which is necessary to Man in the state of fallen Nature He speaks also of the Gift of Perseverance which is not granted unto all and of the Power of Grace and the free Predestination of the Elect. He again insisteth upon the same Matter and upon the same Principles in both the Books which he writ in answer to Hilary's and Prosper's Letters The First is of the Predestination of the Saints and the Second of the Gift of Perseverance Wherein he demonstrates That the beginning of Faith and good Purposes is the Gift of God and that so our Predestination or Vocation does not depend upon our Merits The Second Book concerns the Gift of Perseverance which he shews to depend equally upon God as the beginning of our Conversion St. Augustin composed these Treatises in the Year 429. St. Augustin's last Effort against the Pelagians fell upon Julianus his old Adversary who to maintain the Quarrel he had begun composed Eight Books against St. Augustin's Second Book Of Matrimony and Concupiscence St. Augustin having received Five of them from Alypius undertook to write against them and was engaged about the Fourth when he writ the â—â—4th Letter to Quodvultdeus in the Year 428. It is probable that Alypius sent him the other Three but St. Augustin answered but Six and this Work remains imperfect as Possidius affirms The Six Books of St. Augustin were published by F. Vignier from a Manuscript of the Abby of Clervaux which in all probability will be revised and corrected in a new Edition from some other Manuscripts These Books are written by way of Dialogue There St. Augustin produces Julianus's own Terms and Answers them plainly and in few Words We referr'd to speak of St. Augustin's Four Treatises Of the original of the Soul to this place because they were not written properly against the Pelagians though St. Augustin handleth there some Questions that have some relation to the Dispute betwixt them Therefore I think that it had been more proper to have set them at the end of the Sixth Volume than in this place The occasion and subject of these Four Books is this A Priest of the Province of Mauritania Caesariensis one Victor who was Surnamed Vincentius from a Donatist Bishop Successor to Victor of that Name whose Memory that Priest who had been a Donatist did reverence very much This Priest I say having met in the House of one Peter a Spanish Priest with a Writing of St. Augustin's wherein this Saint had set down his usual Doubts about the Soul 's Original wrote two Books
against him which he directed to Peter himself He affirmed in that Book That nothing was easier than the decision of that Question and that he was sure that God did every moment create new Souls but added to this Principle several erroneous Consequences He confessed indeed That the Soul was no part of God's Substance but he would not say that he created it of nothing He asserted That it had a Body and so that Man was made up of a gross Body of a Soul that was a more subtil Body and of a Spirit He said That the Soul deserved to be placed in the Body to contract some Pollution by conversing with Flesh but that it was also Purified by the Flesh. That those Children whom God predestinated to Baptism were saved though they were not baptized That their Souls went into Paradise until the Day of Judgment and that after the Resurrection they should enter into the Kingdom of Heaven That Sacrifices were to be offered for them And last of all That the reason why some were Saved and others Damned was the knowledge which God had of the Good or Evil which they should have done if they had lived These Notions being very dangerous and Vincentius having maintained them with a great deal of Wit and Eloquence when St. Augustin had received these Books from Renatus a Monk of Caesarea he thought himself obliged to Answer them He wrote therefore a Treatise to this Renatus who had sent them wherein he refuteth the particular Opinions before-named and among the rest That of Childrens Salvation who die without Baptism He showeth That they cannot be saved but by that Sacrament and that the Eucharist is not to be offered for those that died before the Use of Reason and unbaptized For saith he The Body of Jesus Christ is not to be offered but for such as are Members of Jesus Christ But none can be a Member of Jesus Christ but by Baptism in Jesus Christ or by dying for Jesus Christ Nisi Baptismate in Christo aut morte pro Christo. He answereth the Example of the good Thief in whom Faith supply'd Baptism and that of Dinocrates Brother to St. Perpetua a Child of Seven Years of Age to whom God granted Salvation through the Prayers of that Saint as it is related in the Acts of her Martyrdom As to this latter Example St. Augustin saith at first That being not taken out of a Canonical Book he can ground no Doctrine upon it and that it is uncertain whether that Child was baptized or no. After this he answers Vincentius's Notion That Children were either Saved or Damned for the Good or Evil which they would have done if they had lived This he says is a foolish Opinion For how can a Person be punished or recompensed for Evil or Good Actions which are not and which shall never be were this true no Man that is baptized can be secure for who knows whether he should not have Apostatiz'd had he lived And how can this be made to agree with what the Scripture saith of a Man that is taken away lest the Wickedness of his Sin should corrupt him Having refuted Vincentius's false Consequences he shews That those Passages of Scripture which he alledgeth to prove the daily Creation of Souls do indeed prove nothing and that he takes almost all of them in a wrong sence yet he condemns not this Opinion provided that Testimonies of Scripture be not abused to prove it and that nothing be alledged contrary to the Doctrine of the Church to uphold it provided likewise that it be not said 1. That God created sinful Souls 2. That Children dying before Baptism are saved 3. That Souls sinned before their entrance into Bodies 4. That they are punished for future Sins that shall never be St. Augustin was not contented to write this Book to Renatus but he writ besides a second Treatise upon the same Subject to Peter the Spanish Priest who had given the occasion of this Controversie to disabuse him concerning Vincentius's Opinions And last of all he dedicates two Books to Vincentius himself In the first he refuteth these Errors which he reduces to these Eleven Propositions 1. That the Soul is not created of Nothing 2. That God creates Souls in infinitum 3. That the Soul loses its Merit by being united with the Body 4. That it is renewed by the same Flesh which caused it to lose its Merit 5. That it deserved to be sinful before it entred into the Body 6. That original Sin is remitted in Children that die without Baptism 7. That some Children whom God hath predestinated to be baptized do not receive that Sacrament 8. That one may say of them He was taken away lest Wickedness should corrupt him 9. That there are Habitations for them in the Kingdom of Heaven 10. That the Eucharist ought to be offered for them 11. That their Souls go into Paradise after Death and that after the Resurrection they shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven In the Second St. Augustin defends those things which Vincentius found fault with in his Book They are Three 1. His Doubts of the Original of the Soul 2. His denying it to be a Body 3. That he distinguished not the Soul from the Spirit He said touching the first Point Is it credible that a Man does not know himself if that be Wherein doth he differ from Beasts St. Augustin answers That Man ought to confess his Ignorance not only as to what relates to the Divinity but also as to many things that concern his Body and Soul And he produces several Examples of them Upon the Second his Question was What the Soul is if it be not a Body but as he confessed at the same time that God is not a Body St. Augustin asketh him the same Questions concerning the Nature of God which he had started about the Nature of the Soul He refuteth their Opinion who believed the Soul to be Corporeal and particularly Vincentius's fancy That the Soul being entred into the Body was diffused into all the Parts and by a kind of Congelation had received the figure thereof He answers the Argument which Vincentius had raised out of the Parable of Dives and Lazarus and from Apparitions observing That the Soul feels and represents Bodies though it be not a Body and though there be no Body present As for what is said of Lazarus's Finger and of the parts of a Soul he retorts the Argument upon Vincentius because he spake likewise of the Finger of God and Scripture ascribes Members to him though he be a meer Spirit At last St. Augustin saith to the last Point That when the Spirit is distinguish'd from the Soul the word Spirit is taken in a special manner for Intelligence or Understanding but not for Spirit as it is a Nature opposed to Body Lastly He exhorteth Victor to lay aside the Sur-name of Vincentius because being entred into the Church he could no longer without condemning himself
1580 Carterius publish'd the Commentary of Procopius upon Isaiah from a Manuscript of the Cardinal of Rochefoucault This Work is printed at Paris in Greek and Latin over against it and is very carefully done The Anonymous Author of an Exposition of the Octateuque THis Author who is mention'd by Photius in the 36th Volume of his Bibliotheque liv'd under the Empire of Justinus He had compos'd a Book entitled The Book of Christians or An Exposition The Anonymous Author of an Exposition of the Octateuque of the Octateuque dedicated to one nam'd Pamphilus The style of this Work was mean and the Syntax of it not extraordinary He has proposed many Parodoxes altogether indefensible which are more like Tales and Fables then any thing that is serious Here follow some of them That the Heaven and the Earth are not of around figure but the Heaven is in the form of a Vault or an Arch That the Earth is longer one way and that its Extremities touch the Heaven That all the Stars are in Motion and that the Angels move them with several other things of this Nature He speaks also of Genesis and Exodus but as it were by the by He dwells a long time upon the Description of the Tabernacle he runs thro the Writings of the Prophets and Apostles he says that the Sun is as big The Monk Jobitus as the two Climates that the Angels are not in Heaven but above the Firmament and amongst us That Jesus Christ ascending into the Heavens stay'd between the Heavens and the Firmament that this is the place which is call'd the Kingdom of Heaven These are some part of the Absurdities which this Author asserts His Work was divided into Twelve Books We have none of them now remaining and what we have now said shews sufficiently how little reason we have to regret the loss of them The Monk Jobius THis is also an Author of the sixth Age out of whom Photius has preserv'd long and excellent Extracts The Monk Jobius wrote a Treatise of the Word Incarnate divided into nine Books and 45 Chapters upon those matters which were disputed in this Age concerning the Mystery of the Incarnation Photius remarks that he treated the Questions largely enough but he gave not very good Solutions of them contenting himself with what might probably satisfie without searching deeply into the Truth That his Doctrine was very Orthodox both in this Work and in what he wrote against Severus that he was well-skill'd and vers'd in the Holy Scripture and that he undertook to write this Treatise at the desire of an honourable Person This is what Photius observes in general upon this Work of which he afterwards gives an Abridgment The first and second Book were for the Explication of this Question Why is the Son made Man and not the Father or the Holy Spirit The Reason that he gives for it is That the Son bears the Name of the Image of the Father and of his Reason and that from these Titles it was reasonable that he should come to reform the Image of Man and restore to him that Reason which he had lost He thinks that the Birth of Jesus Christ in a Stable among Oxen and Asses the Parable of the Nets cast into the Sea which took all sorts of Fish the Piece of Silver which was found by St. Peter in a Fish the Entrance of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem upon an Ass and the Gift of Tongues are Figures of this Truth After this Preface which appears not very grave nor worthy of the matter he handles In the third Book which begins at the ninth Chapter he gives another Reason why the Son of God was made Man And that is because it was reasonable that he who created and form'd Man should create him anew and reform him Now tho the Father and the Holy Spirit created Man as well as the Son yet the Creation is attributed to the Son and 't is said that by him the Father made all things He demands afterwards Why Redemption was not made by an Angel or a Man And upon this Question he says That Men have try'd many times to bring Salvation to Men but with all they could do they were not capable of saving one single Nation how much more then was it impossible for them to redeem all Mankind and to chain up the Devil who was become their Master That no meer Man could do it because none of them is free from sin That neither did this agree to an Angel to whom it did not belong to lead Spiritual Powers in triumph That One being of the same Nature with the Rest could not bring them into subjection and that if St. Michael disputing with the Devil about the Body of Moses durst not bring a railing Accusation against him how much lefs could an Angel make us Children by Adoption From this Question he passes to another Why God did not redeem Men by his Divinity without making himself Man He answers That God having not done it we should believe that he ought not to have done it This is the best Answer or rather the only reasonable one and this being propos'd all the other become needless In this place he shows that tho God be Almighty yet there are some things which he cannot do because it would be a defect or imperfection to do them He says moreover That the Redemption of Mankind was a more excellent thing then his Creation and that it is a more particular sign of the Love of God to us He adds That it was fit the Word should be made Man for our Salvation since all other means had been ineffectual But one may say Why did he permit that Man should become wicked why did he not create him necessarily good If this had been so he would have had no Free-will and consequently he could have deserv'd nothing Why did not he make him may one say like the Angels This could not have been an advantage to Man answers our Author because God did not save the Angels who sinned But we easily fall into sin Yes says he and we rise again easily God having left to Man a thousand ways whereby he may do Penance and save himself He proposes to himself another very important Question Why God made Man of two Parts of a different Nature But he answers not this Question very well for he only relates some passages of the Fathers and says That the Terrestrial Substance must have been adorn'd with the Union of a Spiritual Substance He enquires Why the Word was made Man and he gives three Reasons for it The first is That he might give us an Example of Vertue The second is To deliver us from the Bondage of Sin The third To blot out Original Sin and restore us to the state in which we were before Sin He remarks that in the Trinity the Father is consider'd as the first Cause the Son as the acting Cause and the Holy Spirit as that
to life again The knowledge of things hidden and the prediction of things future did never fail him An Ecclesiastical Person was deliver'd from a Devil and afterwards possess'd a-new for aspiring to Holy Orders which this Saint had forbidden him Two hundred Measures of Corn were found at the Gate of a Monastery at a time when there was great need of it The Nuns threatned with Excommunication by St. Benedict who died a little while after did visibly go out of the Church when the Deacon order'd those who were Excommunicated to retire But he took off this Excommunication and after the Offering was presented for them which be blessed they were never more seen to go out as before A young Hennit who was gone out of a Monastery without leave dying in his own House was buried and the next day after his Body was found above ground His Kinsfolk had recourse to St. Benedict who gave them the Communion of the Body of our Saviour and order'd them to put it upon the Breast of the deceased and then to bury him with it which being done he continued after that under ground A Leper was cur'd by his Prayers A Bottle of Oyl thrown down from a high place was preserved whole Sometimes he got Money and sometimes Oyl He cur'd an Hermit possess'd of a Devil He loos'd a Country-man who was bound fast only by his own looks He raised a dead Infant His Sister St. Scholastica raised a furious storm to force him to lye at her House He saw his own Soul ascend to Heaven in the shape of a Dove He had also another Vision wherein he perceiv'd the Soul of Germanus Bishop of Capua which the Angels carried up to Heaven He foretold his own Death which was follow'd with Miracles The third Book contains the Vertues and Miracles of many Saints of Italy There it is related that Paulinus Bishop of Nola went into Afric to render himself a Prisoner to the King of the Vandals that he might deliver the only Son of a Widow of his own Country and that he being discover'd by a miraculous Vision did not only obtain his own Deliverance but also the Deliverance of all the Prisoners of War That a Horse on which Pope John mounted would never after carry a Woman and that this Pope cur'd a blind Man at Constantinople That Pope Agapetus heal'd a lame Man That Dacius Bishop of Milan deliver'd a House from Spectres which the Devil made to appear there That Sabinus Bishop of Lanusa being blind knew every thing that pass'd and one day his Arch-deacon having presented to him Poyson by a Servant he would not drink it but order'd the Servant to drink it and afterwards having hindred him from doing it he drunk it off himself after he had made the sign of the Cross without receiving any hurt and order'd the Boy to go and tell him who had given him this Poyson that he should not be Bishop and indeed the Arch-deacon died immediately 'T is also reported in the same Book that Andrew Bishop of Fundi being tempted by a Nun who dwelt in his House was restrain'd by an Adventure pleasant enough A Jew having stop'd near the place where formerly the Temple of Apollo at Fundi stood heard there the Devils give an account to their Prince of what they had done and among them there was one who boasted that he had inspir'd this Temptation into Andrew This Jew having found out this Bishop discover'd to him what he had heard which mov'd this Bishop to turn out of his House not only this Nun but also all the other Women that there might be no occasion for a Temptation A Bishop of Luca chang'd the Course of a River by his own word only Another stop'd the Inundation of the Po by a Letter Others are preserv'd from their Enemies from Serpents and from Savage Beasts A Hermit raised one from the dead A new Nun chas'd away the Devil A Rubber was seiz'd at the Sepulchre of a holy Priest In short there are many other Miracles of this Nature in this Book And there he speaks also of some Christians who suffer'd for the Faith under the Lombards In the fourth Book he undertakes to treat of the state of the Soul after death and to refute the Opinion of some who without separating from the Church doubted whether the Soul liv'd after its separation from the Body There he observes that 't is not to be wondred that Man being born Carnal and not being able to feel invisible things should be hardly brought to believe them that notwithstanding Men must of necessity believe such things as they do not feel That there are three sorts of Spirits Spirits which are never united to any Flesh and Spirits which are united to it but do not dye with it and Spirits which are united to Flesh and die with the Body The Angels are the first sort the Souls of Men are the second and the Souls of Beasts are the third He answers a passage of Ecclesiastes where 't is said that Beasts and Men die alike by affirming that it is a Question propos'd by the Author and not his Decision of it He adds that we must not wonder that we do not see the Soul go out of the Body since it is not seen even in the Body and that as it discovers it self when it is in the Body by its Motions so it does also when it is out of the Body by the Miracles of the Saints that moreover the Eyes of the Body cannot perceive the Soul since it is invisible but the Just do purifie the Eyes of their Mind To prove this he brings the Examples of many whose Souls have been seen after their death or of Saints who have seen at the time of their death either Jesus Christ or the Virgin or some of the Saints As to the state of Souls after death he says that those of the Just who are perfect are receiv'd into Heaven that those of them who are not so perfect are detain'd in certain Receptacles and that those of the wicked are thrown into Hell-fire which torments them altho it be Corporeal He thinks it no more difficult to explain the manner whereby it causes pain in the other Life then in this He believes that the Damned know the Happiness of the Just and the Blessed the Misery of the Damned He maintains expresly that there is a Purgatory for expiating the slight faults of those who have deserv'd this Grace by the good Actions which they did in this Life * But this being only a Purgation of light and venial sins is not such a Purgatory as is asserted by the Council of Trent Sess 6. Can. 30. which is the temporal pain of mortal sins whose eternal punishment is remitted And in other places of his Works Pope Gregory does expresly deny any change of state after this life as particularly his Morals on Job l. 8. c. 8. Ed. Bas. where he says That at the time
prove these two Points by passages of holy Scripture and the Fathers he labâ—â—â—'s to show that the Sacrifices and Oblations which the Priests make for those who die in the faith of the Church as well as the Prayers and Alms which are made for them are profitable to the Salvation and Pardon of their Sins for whom they are offer'd That the Custom is to offer them at the end of three days after Death in memory of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ at the end of nine days because Jesus Christ discover'd himself to his Disciples on the ninth day after his Resurrection and lastly at the end of forty days because after this number of days Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven This Work was publish'd by Allatius in his Treatise of Purgatory ANDRONICIANUS Andronicianus I Have read says Photius in Code 45. two Books of Andronicianus against the Eunomians He promises very much in his Prefaces but he does not perform what he promises particularly in the second Book He had the Civility the Wit and way of writing of a Philosopher and was a Christian by Religion There is no Work of his now remaining LUCIUS CHARINUS THis Author wrote a Book entituled The Travels of the Apostles containing the Actions of St. Peter St. John St. Andrew St. Thomas and St. Paul whose style and relation do equally deserve contempt Lucius Charinus in the Judgment of Photius Code 144. His Style was unequal his Words vulgar and his Discourse very remote from the native candor and simplicity of Apostolical Relations He was full of Stories stuff'd with folly and impiety He seigns that the God of the Jews was a God of wickedness to whom Simon the Magician was a Minister That on the contrary Christ is a God of Goodness He gives him some times the Title of Father some times that of Son He imagines that he was not truly made Man but only in appearance He says that he appear'd to his Disciples under different shapes sometimes as an old Man sometimes as a young Man sometimes as an Infant sometimes great and sometimes little sometimes as high as Heaven and sometimes creeping upon the Earth He vents many fooleries concerning the Cross and affirms that another was crucified for Jesus Christ. He condemns Marriage and looks upon Generation as the Work of the Devil He reckons up several Resurrections of Men of Oxen c. He seems to blame the use of Images as did the Iconoclasts In a word says Photius the whole Book contains nothing but things childish and prodigious malicious Fables Falsities Follies Contradictions and Impieties insomuch that one may say without deviating from the Truth that this Book is the origine and sourse of all Heresies He should rather have call'd it a Collection of the Follies and Impieties of the Ancient Hereticks METRODORUS THis Author had made a Cycle for the Celebration of the Feast of Easter consisting of eight and twenty Cycles nineteen Years a piece beginning at Dioclesian and continuing it for the Metrodorus space of five hundred thirty three years to 〈◊〉 the Feasts of Easter according to the Calculation of the fourteenth 〈◊〉 altho neither the Ancient Church nor the Modern says Photius did always so exactly determine it He did not know who this Author was and when he wrote HERACLIANUS Bishop of Chalcedon THis Author compos'd twenty Books against the Manicheans His style was concise free from useless words sublime and of a neatness supported by the Majesty of the Expressions because Heraclinus Bishop of Chalcedon he mix'd the Attick Dialect with ordinary Discourse He overthrows the Book which the Manichees call their Gospel the Treatise of Gyants and their Treasure He mentions those who had written against these Hereticks before him viz. Egemenius who had written the Dispute of Archelaus against Manes Titus who thinking to refute Manicheus had written against Addas George of Laodicea who had us'd the same Arguments with Titus Serapion Bishop of Thumis and Diodorus of Tarsus who had opposed the Manicheans in a Work of five and twenty Books in the seven first whereof he thought to attack their Gospel altho he refuted the Book of Addas to which they Leontius Bishop of Arabissa gave the Title of Measures Heraclianus confirm'd in a few words what seem'd to him most weak in the Works of these Authors supplied what appear'd to him forgotten and repeated the best things they had said adding to them what came into his own mind This Author was nervous in his Reasons which he improv'd by the help of other Sciences He overthrew the Fables of the Manicheans and refuted solidly their Errors This Work was address'd to a Christian call'd Achillius by whom he was desir'd to refute in publick Writings the Heresie of the Manicheans which spread in the World Photius has noted the Emperor under whom this Author liv'd but he is not to be found among those that are printed His Work is lost we have taken what we have said out of Photius in Code 85. LEONTIUS Bishop of Arabissa PHotius relates in Code 172. a part of this Author's Homily which was entituled Of the Creation and of Lazarus The Fall of Adam and his Punishment are there described to show the necessity of the Incarnation and the Resurrection of Lazarus is there compar'd to the Joy which John felt in his Mother 's Womb. OF THE 〈…〉 under Pope Symmachus COUNCILS HELD In the Sixth Age. Of the COUNCILS at ROME under Pope Symmachus THE Pontificat of Pope Symmachus being very much embroil'd he was forc'd to assemble many Councils Immediately after his Promotion he held one the first day of March in the Year 499. to make Canons forbidding for the future such Canvassings as were us'd after the death of Pope Anastasius This Council was compos'd of more then sixty Italian Bishops and as many Priests who had all their Titles Five Deacons of Rome were there present and sign'd the Regulation of the Council after the Bishops and Priests It contains first That for hindring such frequent Canvassings for the future as were us'd by those who had a mind to be promoted to the Bishoprick of Rome which caus'd a great Scandal to the Church and Commotions among the People the Council Orders That if any Priest Deacon or any other Person of the Clergy shall dare during the Life of the Pope to make any Promise in writing for the Pontificat or give any Notes or make any Oath about it or promise his Suffrage by any way whatsoever or do so much as hold Meetâ—â—â—s to consult about it and make Propositions he shall be depriv'd of his Office and of the Communion of the Church 2. That if the Pope happen to die suddenly without being able to look after the Election of a Successor he shall be Consecrated who shall be chosen with a common Consent or by the far greater number 3. That those shall be rewarded who shall discover the Intrigues and
Church The first of S. Maximus's Works is entituled Questions upon the Holy Scripture dedicated to Thalassius Presbyter and Abbot He shews in the Preface of his Work That Evil is not an Entity nor a real Quality but a defect of the Creature whereby it swerveth from its ultimate end that is from God from whence he concludes That all Evil comes from the want of the Knowledge and Love of God because the only means of Salvation is to know him to love and serve him renouncing the love of the Creatures the Passions the Lusts and the vain Pleasures of this World This Work contains Answers to 65 Questions The 1st is about the nature and use of Passions the rest about some places of the Scripture We must not look there for literal Explications of the difficulties that might occurr about those places of the Scripture they are allegorical Explications and mystical Observations upon places of the Scripture or Questions of Divinity which he takes an occasion to handle from those places He made himself some Scholia or Glosses upon his own Work where he explains some Terms used and establisheth or clears some Rules and Principles propounded by himself Photius did rightly observe That this Work is very obscure and tedious to read That he does so often wander from the Letter and the History that one cannot keep pace with him and those only who love Allegories and mystical Speculations do relish him and take pleasure in the reading of him The 79 Answers to some other Questions are shorter and less obscure than the former but they are not less stuffed with Explications not at all pertinent to the Letter of the Scripture and with mystical and moral Thoughts He follows the same Method in the Exposition of the 59th Psalm as well as in that of the Lord's Prayer where he loseth himself in his Mystical Speculations The Ascetick Discourse is more plain 't is a Dialogue between a Monk and an Abbot in which the Abbot does instruct the simple Monk in the principal Rules of a Spiritual Life He shews him That the Love of God and the Renouncing of the Creatures are the Foundation of it That the Love of our Neighbour is the effect of the Love of God That Jesus Christ gave us a perfect Example of that Love That we ought continually to fight against the Temptations of the Flesh and the Devil mortifie our Passions resist the Motions of Lust reject Idle or Impure Thoughts be constant in Prayer have always the Fear of God before our Eyes He complains That the greatest part of Monks lived disorderly and that their seeming Vertue was but Hypocrisie He maketh an excellent Prayer to God for their Conversion And adds We ought to trust in his Goodness and Mercy hoping for Salvation from him which we cannot obtain by our selves Photius speaking of this Work says It is useful for all Men and chiefly for them that lead an Ascetick Life because there he lays down the means how to become a Citizen of Heaven by teaching Charitableness and works of Piety It must also be confessed that this Treatise is of the Ascetick Books the most useful not only for Monks but all Christians likewise because it does very well explain the Principles and Fundamentals of the Spiritual Life Maximus added to this Work 400 Spiritual Maxims which he intituled Of Charity because there is many of them about Charity towards God and our Neighbour in which that Holy Man places the whole Spiritual Life as being perswaded all other Vertues and Duties are but Branches and Parts of it There be sundry of those Maxims containing Precepts and Rules touching the Actions of Life and those are the most useful but some of the other contain nothing but Spiritual and Mystical Thoughts Photius takes notice that the Stile of these Two Works is clearer and more elaborate than any of the rest and that they cannot be found fault with unless it be because he did not always make use of the purest terms The Two Hundred Theological and Oeconomical Maxims contain not only Principles of Divinity but also Maxims of Morality and they would deserve says Photius to be compared with the Four Hundred Maxims above mentioned if the great number of Allegories that they are filled with did not render them more like the Questions to Thalassius To these Chapters is annexed a Writing to Theopemptus upon Three Texts of the Gospel entirely agreeing with the Answers to Thalassius Lastly That Volume ends with 243 Moral Maxims taken out of a Manuscript of the Vatican where they are found under Maximus's Name They are indeed like enough to the 400 Moral Maxims for Stile and Matter The fragment drawn out of a Book intituled A Resolution of Sixty Three Doubts Dedicated to the King of Achrida now L'Ochrida by S. Maximus seems doubtful because in Maximus's time there was no King at Achrida which maketh it Credible 't is the Work of some later Grecian who wrote that Work when there were Kings in Bulgaria The Second Volume of S. Maximus's Works comprehends his Theological and Polemical Tracts with his Letters The Twenty Five first Tracts are divers Writings or Answers all tending to the same end to shew that there be Two perfect Natures Two Wills and Two Operations in Jesus Christ in them he handles that matter Scholastically and Acutely Among those Tracts there is one in which he defends that which he had said That the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Son The Conference with Pyrrhus is clearer less cumber'd with Scholastical Terms and Reasonings Therein he relates what was said between them on both sides The issue was That Pyrrhus perswaded by his Reasons that we ought to acknowledge Two Wills and Two Operations in Christ went to Rome with him and retracted his Error The Treatise of the Soul is upon another Subject Therein he Treats of many Questions touching the nature of the Soul he asserts it to be a Spiritual Substance distinct from the Body simple immortal and intelligent These points are handled there in a very dry manner as a Logician rather than Divine Maximus's Letters are upon divers Subjects The Five first are upon Moral Points Therein he does chiefly recommend the Love of God and of our Neighbour tho' renouncing Secular Desires Alms-giving Retiredness and Repentance In the 6th he shews the Soul to be Spiritual And in the 7th That after Death it keeps its Intellectual and other Faculties The Three next contain some Allegorical and Moral Observations In the 11th He Exhorts a Superior to deal Charitably with a Nun which having left the Nunnery had returned thither to do Penance The 12th Is a Writing against Severus in which he Establisheth the distinction of the Two Natures in Christ. He complains in the beginning that the Empress had written some Letters into Africk favouring the Severians He enquireth into the bottom of the Question of the Two Natures in this Writing He explains a passage in S. Cyril and
also published in England in the year 1664 some Letters of Bede Together with the Lives of the Abbots of Weremoâ—th and Jarrow F. Mabillon in his first Tome of his Analecta hath published a short Letter of Bede to Albinus but it contains nothing remarkable in it Besides the Works afore-mentioned there hath been lately Published out of the Antient MSS. by the Reverend and Learned Mr. Henry Wharton Arch-Deacon of Canterbury a Commentary of Bede's upon the first One and Twenty Chapters of Genesis His Exposition of the Song of the Prophet Habacuc as also two Epfstles the one containing an Apology for himself against such as accused him of some Erroneus Opinions the other to Egbert Arch-Bishop of York together with a more correct Edition of his History of the Lives of the Abbots of Weremouth and Girwy Printed at London in 1693. Bede's stile is clear and easie but is neither Pure Elegant Lofty nor Polite He wrote with wonderful readiness but without Art or Consideration He had much Reading and Learning but wanted Judgment and Critical Exactness He Collected indifferently all he found without Picking and Choosing His Commentaries upon Holy Scripture as we have observed are nothing but Extracts of the Commentaries of the Fathers Collected and put together by him He had set down the Authors out of which he took every passage by putting into the Margin the first Letter of their Names bat by the Negligence of such as copied them they are lost His History is exact enough as to the things that passed in his time or a little time before him but as to the other parts of it we cannot safely credit it because he often made use of false Memoirs His Composures upon the Prophane Sciences are neither very deep nor exact but they are well done for his Age. JOHN Patriarch of Constantinople and AGATHO Deacon of the same Church AFTER the Death of the Emperor Constantine commonly called Pogonatus his Son Justinian the Second of that Name a Cruel Man obtained the Empire in 685 and John Patriarch and Agatho Deacon of Constantinople was deprived os it in the Tenth year of his Reign by Leontius Patricius who cut off his Nose and Banished him but he was soon after Deposed by Apsimarus Tiberius And at length Justinian was again restored in 705 but was at last Slain in Bithynia Anno. 712. by the Command of Bardanes Sirnamed Philippicus who Invaded the Empire This Man who had been the Scholar of the Abbot Stephen the Scholar of Macarius caused the Picture of the Sixth Council to be Pulled down the Names of Sergius and Honorius to be put in the Dypticks and the Acts of the Council which were in his Place to be Burnt He Persecuted the Orthodox Bishops Banished Cyrus Patriarch of Constantinople put John in his place and endeavoured to reverse the Definitions of the Sixth Council and revive the Doctrine of the Monothelites But he did not live long enough to perfect his design for he was taken and had his Eyes put out by certain Persons that conspired against him in 713 on the Saturday before Whitsuntide and the next Day Fl. Anthemius was declared Emperor Sirnamed Anastasius and Crowned by John He published the Sixth Council anew put up the Picture of it and caused the Acts to be written out again by the Deacon Agatho who relates this whole matter in a Memoir which he hath put at the end of the Acts of the Council John Patriarch of Constantinople declared that he was of the same Opinion and to reconcile himself to the Western Church He wrote a Letter to Pope Constantine in which he excuses himself for not sending a Synodical Letter of Communion because he was hindred by the violence of Philippicus He then gives him an Account how he was raised to the Patriarchate He says That Philippicus had a design to put a Person who was not of the Clergy and who was of his own Sentiments but he was forced by the earnest Petitions of the Clergy of Constantinople to choose him That he never had declared himself to be of the Erroneous Opinions of the Emperor nor did write to the Pope in defence of them but he owns That he was forced to dissemble the Truth by using ambiguous terms He endeavours to excuse his behaviour plainly acknowledges two Natural Wills in Jesus Christ and approves of the Council held under Martin I. and the Sixth Council Lastly He earnestly desired the Pope to receive him into his Communion and to write his Synodical Letters to him without regard to what had passed Nevertheless Constantine gave him no Answer and he was likewise Deposed a little after and Germanus put in his place GERMANUS Patriarch of Constantinople GERMANUS Bishop of Cyzicum was translated to the Patriarchal See of Constantinople Anno. 713. and enjoyed it till 730 when he was Deposed by the Emperor Leo Isaurus and sent into Banishment in which he Died. We have three of his Letters in the Acts of the Seventh Council Some attribute also to him a Mystical Work about the Ceremonies of the Liturgy Entitled Theoria Printed in the Bibliotheca Patrum which contains also an Explication upon the Lord's Prayer which is printed by it self Four Sermons upon the Virgin printed by F. Combefis in Greek and Latin in his Addition to the Biblioth Patrum The first is upon her Presentation in the Temple The second which is upon her Annunciation is a Dialogue between the Angel Mary and Joseph and the two last are upon the Death of the Virgin in one of which he insinuates that she was taken up into Heaven in her Body Schottus hath published another Sermon upon the Nativity of the Virgin under the Name of Germanus but F. Combefis hath restored it to Andreas Cretensis Some also believe and not without Reason that the Book Entitled Theoria and his Homilies of which we have spoken already belong to another Germanus Patriarch of Constantinople who lived in the twelfth Age under Alexius Comnemus and in the time of Pope Gregory the IX to whom he wrote a Letter Gretzer hath also published two Sermons upon the Cross which are this latter's rather than the former's as also the Sermon upon the Virgins Girdle put out by Surius Lastly F. Combefis hath published in Greek and Latin a long Discourse about the Burial of Our Lord which Gretzer attributes to the Author of the two Homilies upon the Cross but it seems to be better Written and to belong to a more ancient Author We find also a Fragment taken out of a Treatise of Synods and Heresies directed to Antimus the Deacon which seems also to be a good Piece But the Work that doth most certainly belong to the elder German Patriarch of Constantinople is that which Photius gives us some Extracts of in his Biblioth cod 233. Entituled * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of a lawful Retaliation Germanus Patriarch of Constantinople in which he defends S. Gregory Nyssene from
dignam satisfactionem He exhorts them earnestly to observe the Lent-Fast The fourth is directed to the absolved Penitents He compares the state they were in before Reconciliation to that they are now in and exhorts them not to make their Repentance of no advantage to them by relapsing into their Sins The last Sermon is upon the settlement of the Christian Religion whose excellency he commends by the price it cost For the sake of this it was that Jesus Christ died and rose again that the Apostles laboured and suffered so much that so many just Men have been martyred that so many Confessors have given such Examples of Virtue and dispersed that Light in the World that so many Men have retreated into Monasteries founded and establish'd by the piety of the Kings and Princes of the Earth This gives him an occasion to inveigh against those that take away the Revenues of Churches and Monasteries He comforts the Christians that suffered Wrongs and shews them That they ought to content themselves with a few worldly Things and labour for a Celestial Treasure where these Extortioners which spoil the Church the Normans who plunder and rob to enrich themselves must expect the Torments of Hell Wolfardus or Wolfadus a Priest and Monk of Hatennede in the Diocese of Eicstat composed Wolfadus a Monk of Hatennede about the end of the 9th Age the Life of S. Walpurga and dedicated it to Erkenwald Bishop of Eicstat by whose Command he made them and three Books of Miracles of that Holy Woman He promised a Dialogue concerning that Saint which we have not Other of his Books are printed in the Collections of Canisius Bollandus and F. Mabillon Hugbaldus Hucbaldus or Hubaldus the Nephew and Scholar of Milo a Monk of S. Amandus Hugbaldus a Monk of S. Amandus flourished in the 9th Age and was very long-lived He was accounted a Man of great Learning in his time He made a Poem of 300 Verses dedicated to Charles the Bald in commendation of Baldness of which almost all the Verses begin with the Letter C. But 't is not for the sake of this Work tho' it hath been thought worth the printing at Basil in 1516. and 1546. and at Frankfort in 1624. that we mention this Author nor for the sake of his Book of Musick spoken of by Sigebert but because he composed the Lives of S. Aldegondes Abbess of Malbod S. Rictrudres Abbess of Marchieme and S. Lebwin a Priest printed by Surius and Bollandus on May 12. and Mabillon Saec. Bededict II. Sigebert speaks of this Author and attributes to him the Lives of several other Saints in his Book De Script Cap. 108. Alfredus or Elfridus or Aluredus King of Englund was sent by his Father Ethelwolf Alfredus King of England King of the West Saxons to Rome where he was Crowned in the year 872 by Pope Leo IV. He was a great lover of Learning and Learned Men He Translated several Latin Authors into the Saxon Tongue and published them in his own name viz. Bede's History of England Paulus Orosius's History S. Gregory's Pastoral c. He composed some Laws The Saxon Translation of Bede's History was Printed at Cambridge in 1644 with his Laws and Prefaces to S. Gregory's Pastoral and P. Orosius His Laws also are inserted in Spelman's Councils and in the 9th Tome of the Councils p. 582. The 1. commands the payment of Tythes The 2. Is against those that rob Churches The other are about Civil matters This King died in the year 900. Father Collet hath Published his Will out of Asserius Menevensis Rembertus Arch-bishop of Breme wrote the Life of his Predecessor Anscharius Printed at Rembertus Arch-bishop of Breme Cologne with the Lives of the other Bishops of that Church 'T is also in the Collections of Bollandus and Father Mabillon Rembertus was chosen Bishop after the Death of Anschcarius in 865 and died in 888. Herembert or Erchempert a Monk of Mount Cassin lived at the end of the 9th Age he made a Chronicon printed at Naples in 1626 by the care of Caracciolus a Theatin Herimbertus a Monk of Mount Cassin Almanus a Monk of Hautivilliers Priest Almannus a Monk of Hautevilliers in the Diocese of Reims Compiled at the request of Theudonus his Bishop the Life of S. Memnus the first Bishop of Chalons Father Mabillon in Tome 2. Analect hath put out a Letter of that Bishop to him and his Answer with an Extract of the Register for Burials in the Abby of Hautevilliers which shew that this Author made the Lamentations of France Ravaged by the Normans and the Lives of S. Nivard Arch-bishop of Reims Sindulphus a Recluse and Priest the Empress S. Helena and the History of the Translation of her Relicks from Rome to the Monastery of Haute-villiers with several other Works Adelinus or Adelelinus or Adelmus succeeded Hildebrand in the Bishoprick of Seez after 877 and govern'd that Church till the Year 910. He wrote the Life of S. Opportuna the Abbess Adelinus Bishop of Seez Sister of Godegrand the first Bishop of Seez It was published by Surius Bollandus in April 22 and by F. Mabillon in Tome 2. Saec. Benedict III. Otfredus a Benedictine Monk of the Abby of Weissenburg and Scholar of Rabanus Compos'd Otfredus a Monk of Weissemburg an History of the Gospel in the Teutonick Tongue that the People that did not understand the Greek nor Latin might read and understand the Gospel He divided this Work into five Books which contain'd the principal circumstances of the Life of Jesus Christ taken out of the Four Evangelists and digested into the order of Time He Dedicated it to Luctbertus Arch-bishop of Mentz by a Latin Letter which he used instead of a Preface it is Printed in the Bibliotheca Patrum but the Work it self is not yet made Publick Trithemius makes mention of some other Treatises of this Author Dedicated to King Lewis Bishop Solomon and the monks of S. Gallus Three Volumes upon the Psalms a Treatise of the last Judgment another of the Joys of Heaven several Letters and many pieces of Poetry Aldrevaldus Aldelbertus and Albertus a Monk of Fleury lived towards the end of the 9th Age. He wrote an History of the Translation of S. Benedict and S. Scholastica and a Book of Aldrevaldus a Monk of Fleury Asserius Bishop of Sherburn the Miracles of S. Benedict These works are in the Library of the Monastery of Fleury Asserius Menevensis Bishop of Sherburn in England flourished about 890 and died in 909. He wrote the History of the Acts of Alfredus his King which was Printed in 1602 at Francfort with other English Historians Bale says he wrote the Annals of England some Homilies and some other Works but we have them not He is accounted an Author of good Credit We must not forget the Martyrologies which were perfected in this Age. In the beginning of the last Century venerable Bede
the Catalogue of the Works of Honorius of Autun no mention is made of certain Questions relating to the Books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes but they come very near his particular Style and Genius His Commentary on the Canticles is preceded by a Preface concerning the different senses of Holy Scripture the Division of the Sacred Books and the general Questions which relate to that Book in particular He explains the Text of it according to the four Senses expressed in his Preface viz. the Historical the Allegorical the Tropological and the Anagogical This Treatise is follow'd by another call'd The Seal of the blessed Virgin Mary in which he applies to Jesus Christ and to the blessed Virgin what is express'd in the Book of Canticles concerning the Bridegroom and the Spouse All these Works were collected by Andreas Schottus and Joan. Covenius and printed in the Twelfth Tome of the Bibliotheca Patrum of the Colen Edition and in the Twentieth of that of Lyons The following Works compos'd by the same Author are lost viz. An Illustration divided into three Books the first of which treats of Jesus Christ the second of the Church and the third of Eternal Life It cannot be that which is attributed to St. Ansehn and which is extant amongst his Works because the Subject of the three Books written by the latter is altogether different The Mirror of the Church consisting of Moral Discourses A Treat se call'd The Scandal raised by the Incontinency of Priests An Historical Abridgment A Treatise of the Eucharist The Knowledge of Life or a Treatise of God and of Eternal Life The Ladder of Heaven or the Degrees of Vision Some Extracts out of St. Augustin in form of a Dialogue between God and the Soul A Treatise of the Pope and the Emperor A Commentary on the Books of Psalms and Canticles Certain Homilies on those Gospels that were not explain'd by St. Gregory The Key of natural Philosophy concerning the Nature of Things The spiritual Nutriment about the Festivals of our Saviour and the Saints and some Letters Mention is made of these Works and of those that are still extant in the end of his Treatise of Ecclesiastical Writers and in Trithemius In the end of the Works of Honorius of Autun is annexed a certain Commentary on the Canticles that is more Moral than Mystical and which some attribute to him but it is not his genuine Commentary This Author is not of good esteem upon account of his Style or Accuracy but for his Industry and the Pains he has taken in making Enquiries ERNULPHUS or ARNULPHUS Bishop of Rochester ERNULPHUS or ARNULPHUS a Monk of St. Lucian at Beauvais left his Monastery Ernulphus or Arnulphus Bishop of Rochester by reason of the Disorders that happen'd therein and made Application to Lanfrank Arch-bishop of Canterbury under whom he had study'd in the Abbey of Bec. He continu'd for a long time in the Quality of a simple Monk in his Monastery at Canterbury was made Prior of it by St. Anselm and afterwards Abbot of Burck At last he was ordain'd Bishop of Rochester in 1115. and govern'd that Church during nine Years and some Days He died A. D. 1124. in the 84th Year of his Age. Father Dachery publish'd two Letters written by this Prelate in the second Tome of his Spicilegium which are two small Tracts The first is directed to Waquelin Bishop of Windsor as an Answer to a Question which that Bishop propos'd to him in a Conference they had together at Canterbury viz. Whether a Woman who has committed Adultery with her Husband's Son whom he had by another Wife ought to be divorced from her Husband He maintain'd the Affirmative and the Bishop to whom he wrote asserted the Negative In this Treatise Ernulphus answers the Objections of that Prelate shewing that all the Passages of Holy Scripture in which 't is forbidden to part Man and Wife ought only to be understood of a voluntary Separation between Persons who are not guilty of Adultery and afterwards confirms his Opinion by making it appear that the Bishops to prevent Disorders have often condemn'd Adulterers to abstain for ever from the use of Marriage that it is the usual Custom of the Church that this Punishment is ordain'd in the Penitential Books and that a Divorce is justly allow'd upon account of Spiritual Alliance although it be not express'd in the Scripture as Adultery He adds that 't is not unjust that a Husband should be divorced from his Wife although he be innocent of the Crime committed by her and that there are many other Causes for which a Husband is obliged to put away his Wife The second Letter of the same Author is directed to a certain Person nam'd Lambert who had propos'd five Questions although he was unknown to him The first is to know why the Eucharist is administer'd at present after a different and almost contrary manner to that which was observ'd by Jesus Christ because it was customary at that time to distribute an Host sleept in Wine to the Communicants whereas Jesus Christ gave his Body and Blood separately Ernulphus replys to that Question That our Saviour being come into the World for the Salvation of Men prescrib'd to them what was necessary to be done in order to obtain it without expressing the manner in particular That therefore he did not tell them Baptize in this or that manner let the Baptized Person be plunged three several times in the Water do not permit the Catechumens to be consecrated at first with Holy Chrism c. but only said simply Baptize them That by this means the Things which are absolutely necessary may be easily known and those that may be sometimes omitted or alter'd That upon that very account some Customs which were in use in the Primitive Church were not long observ'd That it is certain for Example That the Apostles receiv'd the Communion after Supper although it be now receiv'd Fasting That they celebrated it on a wooden Table although at present it is offer'd on a Stone-Altar that the Bread they made use of was ordinary Bread and that that which is now us'd is finer and more loose That therefore 't is not to be admir'd if this Bread be given steept although there was no such Custom heretofore that the Priest should mingle some part of the Species of Bread with the Wine That this manner of Administration is observ'd lest any ill Accidents should happen in the distribution of the Wine alone and lest it should stick on the Hairs of the Beard or Whiskers or should be spilt by the Minister The second Question is Why a fourth part of the Host is put into the Chalice He answers That it is not customary to divide the Host into four Parts but only into three yet that third part which is put into the Chalice is as large as the fourth part of the Host although care be taken in some Churches to make it exactly of the
IX A Treatise of the Corruption of the Age The Life of St. Peter of Anagnia Six Books of Moral Discourses attributed to St. Bruno Two Letters A Treatise of the Sacraments or Ceremonies of the Church CALIXTUS II. Pope Genuine Works still extant Thirty Six Letters Spurious Works Four Sermons on St. James GUIBERT Abbot of Nogent sous Coucy Genuine Works A Treatise of Preaching Ten Books of Moral Commentaries on the Book of Genesis Tropologia or an Explication of the Prophecies of Hosea and Amos and on the Lamentations of Jeremiah A Treatise against the Jews A Treatise of the Real Presence of the Body of JESUS CHRIST in the Eucharist A Treatise of the Encomiums of the Virgin Mary A Treatise of Virginity Three Books of the Relicks of Saints The History of the Crusades under the Title of Gesta Dei per Francos The Life of Guibert by himself A Sermon on the last Verse of the 7th Chapter of the Wisdom of Solomon Works lost Sentences taken out of the Gospels Commentaries on the other lesser Prophets Manuscripts ERNULPHUS or ARNULPHUS Bishop of Rochester Genuine Works still extant Two Letters GAUTERIUS Bishop of Maguelone A Genuine Work An Epistle serving instead of a Preface to Lietbert's Commentary on the Book of Psalms publish'd by him GEFFREY Abbot of Vendôme Genuine Works Five Letters A Treatise of the Body and Blood of JESUS CHRIST A Treatise of Elections against the Investitures Two other Treatises against the Investitures A Treatise of Dispensations A Discourse on the Qualities of the Church Explications of the Ark of the Testimony A Treatise of the Sacraments of Baptism Confirmation Extreme Unction of the Sick and the Lord's Supper A Treatise of the Reiteration of the Sacraments A Treatise to prove that Bishops ought not to exact any thing for Blessings and Consecrations A Rule for the Confessions of Monks A Discourse on the Three Virtues of Pastors A Dialogue between God and the Sinner Four Hymns Eleven Sermons HONORIUS II. Pope Genuine Works still extant Eleven Letters BAUDRY Bishop of Dol. Genuine Works The History of the Crusade A Memoire concerning the Monastery of Fecamp The Life of St. Hugh Archbishop of Rouen Other Lives of the Saints HILDEBERT Bishop of Mans and afterwards Archbishop of Tours Genuine Works Eighty Three Letters Nine other Letters publish'd by F. Dachery Two Discourses on the Nativity of our Lord. A Paraphrase in Verse on the Canon of the Mass. Two Sermons A Synodical Discourse The Life of Hugh Abbot of Cluny The Epitaph of Berengarius A Letter to Reginoldus A Preface to the Life of St. Radegonda A Work lost A Treatise of Virginity STEPHEN HARDING Abbot of Cisteaux Genuine Works still extant The Charter of Charity The small beginning of the Order of Cisteaux A Discourse on the Death of Albericus A Discourse Dedicated to St. Bernard PETRUS GROSOLANUS or CHRYSOLANUS A Genuine Work A Discourse before Alexis Comnenus EUSTRATIUS Archbishop of Nice Manuscript Works A Reply to Chrysolanus Some other Treatises STEPHEN Bishop of Autun A Genuine Work A Treatise of the Prayers and Ceremonies of the Mass. NICEPHORUS BRYENNIUS of Macedonia A Genuine Work still extant The Byzantine History from the Year 1057. to 1081. JOANNES ZONARUS Secretary of State to the Emperor of Constantinople Genuine Works Annals or an Ecclesiastical History Commentaries on the Canons A Discourse of Impurity A Canon of the Virgin Mary A Preface to the Poems of St. Gregory Nazienzen Fifty Six Letters Works lost An Explication of the Canons for the Festival of Easter Several Sermons A Poetical Work on the Procession of the Holy Ghost HONORIUS SOLITARIUS Professor of Scholastical Divinity in the Church of Autun Genuine Works A Treatise of the Lights of the Church or of the Ecclesiastical Writers A List of Hereticks A Chronological Table of the Popes The Pearl of the Soul or a Treatise of Divine Offices divided into Four Books A Treatise of the Image of the World in Three Books The Philosophy of the World A Treatise of Praedestination and Free Will Questions upon the Book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes A Commentary on the Book of Canticles The Seal of the Virgin Mary Works lost An Illustration of the Church of the Doctrine of JESUS CHRIST and of Eternal Life The Mirror of the Church The Scandal against the Incontinence of Priests An Historical Summary A Treatise of the Eucharist A Treatise of Eternal Life The Ladder of Heaven Extracts out of St. Augustin's Works in form of a Dialogue A Treatise of the Pope and the Emperor Commentaries on the Books of Psalms and Canticles Certain Homilies on those Gospels that were not explain'd by St. Gregory The Key of Natural Philosophy The Nutriment of the Mind in the Festivals of our Lord and the Saints Several Letters A Spurious Work A Moral Commentary on the Book of Canticles NICOLAS a Monk of Soissons A Genuine Work still extant The Life of St. Godfrey AELNOTHUS a Monk of Canterbury A Genuine Work The History of the Life and Passion of Canutus King of Denmark THOMAS a Monk of Ely A Genuine Work An Account of the Life and Translation of St. Etheldrith S. NORBERT Founder of the Order of Premontré A Genuine Work A Moral Discourse in form of an Exhortation RUPERT Abbot of Duyts Genuine Works A Treatise of the Trinity and its Operations divided into Three Parts and containing Commentaries almost on the whole Bible Cammentaries on the XII lesser Prophets and on the Book of Canticles XIII Books of the Victory of the Word of God A Commentary on St. Matthew of the Glory of the Son of God Commentaries on the Gospel of St. John and o◠the Apocalypse A Treatise of the Glorification of the Trinity and of the Procession of the Holy Ghost A Treatise of the Divine Offices GUIGUE Prior of La Grande Chartreuse or the Great Charter-House Genuine Works still extant Statutes of the Carthusian Order The Life of St. Hugh Bishop of Grenoble Meditations A Treatise of the Contemplative Life or the Ladder of the Cloister Four Letters Works lost A Treatise of Truth and Peace kept in Manuscript in the Charter-House or Carthusian Monastery of Colen Some other Letters DROGO or DREUX Cardinal Bishop of Ostia Genuine Works A Sermon on the Passion of JESUS CHRIST A Treatise of the Creation and Redemption of the first Man A Tract on the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost A Treatise of the Divine Offices PETER of Leon Anti-pope under the Name of ANACLETUS II. Genuine Works XXXVIII Letters GEFFREY Bishop of Chartres A Genuine Work still extant A Letter to Stephen Bishop of Paris GEFFREY the Gross a Monk of Tiron A Genuine Work The Life of St. Bernard Abbot of Tiron PETER Library-Keeper of Mount Cassin Genuine Works A Treatise of Illustrious Personages of Mount-Cassin The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Mount-Cassin A Treatise of the Roman Letters Works lost Semons 〈◊〉 of the Saints 〈◊〉 History of the Righteous Men of
followed He treats in the last Article of the Mass its Ceremonies and Prayers This Treatise is printed in the Bibliotheca Patrum and by its self at Louvain in 1568. The same Author has Composed an History of the Three Bishops of Leige viz. Engelbert de la Marca John de Arkel and Arnold de Horn from 1347. to 1386. published by Chapeaville in his History of Leige printed at Leige in 1616. Tom. 3. JOANNES TAMBACUS or de TAMBACH a Town in Alsatia a Monk of the Order of Friars-Preachers John de Tambach in the Monastery of Strasburg afterward Rector of the University of Prague and created Master of the Sacred Palace by Urban V. in 1366. He died in the following Age being above 80 Years old He Composed a Work entitled The Consolation of Theology or the Looking-glass of Wisdom or Patience finished in 1386. printed at Paris in 1493. at Colen in 1502. at Nuremburg in 1509. Father Alexander cites another Work of this Author's of Nature and Grace which is in MS. in the Library of the great Convent of Jacobins or White-Friars at Paris Trithemius also mentions a Treatise of John Tambacus Of the Delights of Paradise and some Sermons RAYMUNDUS JORDANUS whose Works have gone a long time under the Name of Idiota lived Raymundus Jordanus about the End of this Age and was a Canon-Regular Provost of that Order in Usez and then Abbot of Cella in Berry All his Works which have been printed several times in the Bibliotheca Patrum under the Name of Idiota were put out under his Name by the Jesuite Theophilus Raynaudus and printed at Paris in 1654. They consist of Eleven Contemplations upon different Subjects A Treatise of the Virgin Three Books of a Monk's Life The Spiritual or Mystical Eye which Waddingus attributes to Joannes Guallensis Rules of a Christian Life which rather belong to Picus Mirandula A Paraphrase upon the 15th Psalm FRANCISCUS XIMENIUS of Gironne in Spain Bishop of Elne or Perpignan and dignified with the Francis Ximenius Title of Patriarch of Jerusalem flourished at the End of this Age and in the Beginning of the next He left us some Works of Piety and among others A Book of the Angelical Life printed at Alcala or Complutum in 1527. A Treatise De Scalâ Coeli or the Ladder of Heaven printed at Barcelona in 1501. A Treatise for the Instruction of Bishops and Superiors entitled Pastorale or a Pastoral printed at the same place in 1495 Four Books of a Christian Life printed at Valentia in 1484. and at Granada in 1496. ANTONIUS de BUTRIO a Lawyer of Bononia flourished at the end of this Age and in the beginning Anthony de Butrio of the next He has Composed a Commentary upon the Five Books of the Decretals printed at Venice in 1578. Another Comment upon the Sixth printed at the same place in 1575. A Repertory of the Canon and Civil Law printed several times in several places and some other Treatises of the Civil Law He died as some say Octob. 7. 1408. and as others in 1417. LUCIUS COLUCCIUS PIERUS SALUTATUS de STIGNANO Chancellor of Florence and Secretary Lucius Coluccius to Urban V. and Gregory XI succeeded Petrarch in the Imperial Dignity of Learning i. e. was made Poet Laureate after him He flourished from 1360. and died not till May 12. 1406. We have only two Letters of his The one in Commendation of Cardinal Nicholas de Capocia dedicated to Nicholas Auximus the Chief Notary of the Pope The other to Brunus the Pope's Secretary containing the Commendation of Urban V. and a Petition addressed to the King of France in the Name or the People of Florence against the Faction of the Gibelines presented in 1404. Ancient Pieces which have been published by Mr. Baluzius in the Fourth Tome of his Miscellanies This Author also wrote two Books of the true Religion A Discourse of the Excellency of the Civil Law above Physick A Book of Fortune and Destiny Several-Letters A small Work entitled Loculum Noctis or The Night-Pouch which are in MS. in the Libraries of Florence The Letters of his which Mr. Baluzius has published give us a sufficient Proof of the Ingenuity Elegancy and Politeness of this Author Some attribute to HENRY de BAUME or de PALMA a Grey-Friar who lived about the end of Henry de Baume this Age a Treatise of Mystical Divinity which is printed among the Works of S. Bonaventure and which others attribute to John de Parma BERTRAND de TRILLE of the Diocess of Nismes of the Order of Preaching-Friars flourished Bertrand de Trille about the end of the Age. He Composed a Commentary upon the Books of the Sentences which is in MS in the Library of S. Victor Some attribute to him certain Postills upon the Scripture and some Works of Philosophy JOANNES GROSSIUS or GROSSUS a Native of Tholouse General of the Carmelites from 1389. John Grosse till after 1409. has Composed two Works in honour of his own Order the one entitled Viridarium or the Orchard of the Order of the Carmelites and the other of the Illustrious Men of that Order Printed with the Mirrour of the Carmelites made by Ribotus at Venice in 1507. and in the New Mirrour of the Carmelites printed at Antwerp in 1680 Tom. IV. MICHAEL AIGRIANUS or AIGNANUS a Carmelite of Bononia and Doctor of Paris was chosen Michael Aigrianus General of his Order in 1381. and died Dec. 1. 1416. He is the Author of a Commentary upon the Psalms published several times under the Name of an Unknown Author and printed under that Title at Alcala or Complutum in 1524. at Lyons in 1588. and 1602. at Venice in 1603. and in his own Name at Lyons in 1652. and 1673. Trithemius attributes to him these following Works A Book of the Conception of the Virgin Four Books upon the Sentences A Book of Questions upon the Sentences Commentaries upon the Gospels of S. Matthew and S. Luke A Table of S. Gregory's Morals A Table of Decrees His Sermons for Lent A Dictionary in Three Volumes which his Death prevented the finishing of Notes upon Valerius Maximus and upon the Books of Aristotle's Morals FRANCIS ZABAREL or de ZABARELLIS a Doctor of Law of Padua Professor at Florence and Francis Zabarel Master of the famous Nicholas the Panormitam Abbot was raised to the Dignity of Arch-Priest for his Merit and after made Bishop of Padua but he refused this last Preferment as also the Archbishoprick of Florence and was at length made Cardinal of the Title of SS Cosmus and Damianus by John XXIII He was present at the Council of Constance and died in that City in 1417. Nov. 6. in the 78th Year of his age He composed Commentaries upon the Five Books of Decretals printed at Venice in 1602. a Commentary upon the Clementines printed at the same place in 1481. A Treatise of the Authority of the Emperor to suppress Schisms
the 2d is of the Spiritual Genealogy of Jacob and the Figures which serve for Contemplation the 3d of the Spiritual Senses of a Man elevated to Contemplation A work of the four steps of a Spiritual Ladder taken from St. Bernard A short Discourse upon the Book of Psalms Meditations upon the thirtieth Psalm upon the Psalm Judica me Deus upon the seven Penitential Psalms upon the Canticles upon the Ave Maria upon the Songs of the Virgin Zachary and Simeon together with an Epiâ—ogue of the four Spiritual Exercises A Treatise of the Lord's Prayer a Tract of the twelve Honours of St. Joseph The Treatise of the Soul Re-printed at Paris in 1505. Twenty Sermons among which is a Sermon of the Trinity Preach'd in the year 1405. at Geneva before Benedict XIII wherein he persuades him to cause the Feast of the Holy Trinity to be celebrated in every Church with a Constitution of this Pope upon this Subject and a Treatise of the form and manner of choosing a Pope which was made in the time of the Council of Constance as also his Treatise of the Reformation of the Church presented to the Fathers of this Council in the year 1415 Printed in the Collection Entituled Fasciculus rerum expetendarum and a Treatise of the Authority of the Church and Cardinals among the Works of Gerson There is also a Sacramental which goes under the Name of Peter of Ailly printed at Lovain in 1487. and the Life of St. Peter of Moron or Celestine printed at Paris in 1539. A Treatise of Ecclesiastical Power A Treatise of the Interdict A Treatise of the Permutation of Benefices of Laws and of a General Council Some Questions about the Creation An Answer to the Conclusions of Friar Matthew for the Sect of Whippers together with the Book of the Agreement of Astrology and Theology These two last are among the Works of Gerson the other have been printed at Collen with some other Treatises of Astronomy A Treatise of the Sphere printed at Paris in 1494 and at Venice in 1508 A Treatise upon the Meteors of Aristotle and the Impressions of the Air printed at Strasburg in 1504. and at Vienna in 1509. He had a great esteem of Judicial Astrology and refers to the Stars not only Civil Events but also Changes of Religion and the Birth of Heresies and he believ'd That by the Principles of this Science a Man might even foretel the Birth of Hereticks Prophets and of Jesus Christ himself The Manuscript Works of Peter of Ailly which are to be found in the Bibliotheque of the College of Navar according to Monsieur Launoy who has made a Catalogue of them are as follows A Question decided in the Schools of Navar viz. Whether it be Heretical to say That 't is lawful to give or receive Mony for obtaining a Right to Preach A Proposition made before the Pope against the Chancellor of the University of Paris which begins with these Words Lord I suffer Violence A Question upon the Reprimand which St. Paul gave St. Peter An Answer made in the Sorbon upon this Question viz. Whether it be a Perfection to be three Subsistences in one and the same Nature Another Question to which he answer'd in the Sorbon viz. Whether the erroneous Conscience of a reasonable Creature can excuse its Action An Answer made in the Hall of the Bishoprick viz. Whether he that has a Power which Jesus Christ has given him can be justly damn'd Another Question viz. Whether the Liberty of reasonable Creatures is equal before and after the Fall An Invective of Ezechiel against False Preachers A Sermon made in the Chapter of the College of Navar upon this Text Truth is gone out of the Earth A Sermon upon St. Bernard A Sermon upon these Words The Kingdom of Heaven belongeth to them A Sermon preach'd in the Synod of Amiens when he was yet but Subdeacon upon this Text Let your Priests be cloth'd with Righteousness Another Sermon preach'd in the Synod of Paris A Treatise upon Boetius's Book of Consolation Two Treatises upon the False Prophets in the latter of which he treats of Hypocrisie of Knowledge of the Discourse of good and bad Angels and of Judicial Astrology A Discourse of the Vision of the Garden of Scripture which serves as a Preface to his Commentary upon the Canticles Two Discourses spoke before the Pope and the Consistory of Cardinals against Friar John of Monteson A Treatise made in the Name of the University of Paris against the Errors of the same Friar whereof the greatest part is printed at the end of the Master of the Sentences The most considerable Work of Peter of Ailly is his Treatise of the Reformation of the Church which is nothing but an Abridgment of many other Works which he wrote upon the same Subject He shews in the Preface the necessity of Reforming the Church because of the Disorders which abound in the greatest part of its Members which will still encrease unless a speedy Remedy be applied The Body of the Work is divided into six Chapters the first is about the necessity of Reformation in the Universal Church for which end he shews That General Councils must be celebrated oftner than they have been in Times past and that Provincial Councils must be held every two Years The second concerns what must be reform'd in the Head of the Church i. e. in the Pope and the Court of Rome wherein there are many Things to be reform'd First That Abuse which has been the Origin of Schism that one Nation should detain the Pope in their Country for a considerable time to the prejudice of the rest of Christendom and to prevent this he thought it would be convenient That no more Cardinals should be made of one Nation than Another Secondly That to hinder the Cardinals from alledging they had made the Election of a Pope thro' fear or violence a Time must be fix'd after which this Exception shall be no more receiv'd and that the Council must judge to whom it belongs to take cognizance of it Thirdly That a Remedy must be applied to the three principal Grievances that the other Churches object against the Church of Rome and which consist in the great number of Exactions of Excommunications and Constitutions Fourthly That care must be taken as to Collations and Elections of Benefices to retrench many Exemptions which the Court of Rome had granted to Abbots Convents and Chapters and to abolish many Rights which the Officers of the Court of Rome had usurp'd The third Chapter is concerning the Reformation of the Church in its Principal Parts i. e. the Prelats of the first Order there he explains the Qualities which Bishops ought to have after what manner they should live he proves the Obligation they lie under to Reside in their Diocess and shews what care they ought to have to avoid all appearance of Simony and to take nothing for Orders nor for the Administration of the
the French from Pepin to the 29th year of Maximilian Caesar and the 1514th of Christ Whart App. ad Hist. Lit. p. 169. A Chronicle of the Dukes of Bavaria and the Counts Palatine Printed at Frankfort in 1544 and 1549. The Chronicle of the Monastery of Richenaw from the year 830. to the year 1370. there are two Editions of it the one is an Abridgment printed at Mayence in 1559. and the other is very much larger printed a little while ago in Germany The Chronicle of the Monastery of St. Martin in Spanheim from the year 1044. to the year 1511. These Historical Works were printed together with two Books of Letters at Frankfort in 1601. To these we must add the Chronology of the Monastery of St. James of Wirtzburg 4 Books of the Illustrious Men of the Order of St. Benedict printed at Collen in 1575. the Lives of St. Maximin Archbishop of Treves and of St. Maximus Archbishop of Mayence in Surius at the 16th and 18th of November and the History of the War in Bavaria in 1504. in the Collection of the Historians of Germany by Freherus The Works of Morality and Piety are his Sermons or Institutions to the Monks printed at Strasburg in 1486 at Antwerp in 1574 and at Florence in 1577. A Commentary upon the Rule of St. Benedict printed at Valenciennes in 1608. an Abridgment of the Spiritual Life 2 Books of the Temptations of Regulars a Treatise against the Vice of Property in Monks a Treatise in the praise of those who write Manuals a Treatise of a Sacerdotal Life a Discourse of the Vanity and Misery of Human Life a Complaint of the sad Condition and Ruin of the Order of St. Benedict which he attributes to the negligence of that Order in maintaining Holiness and studying the Holy Scripture These Works were printed at Florence in 1577. The Discourses spoken at the Chapters of his Order a Treatise of the manner of Celebrating the provincial Chapter of Mayence a Treatise of the Visitation of Monks 5 Books of the Miracles done by the Invocation of the Virgin at Dittelbach and Wirtzburg were printed at Mayence in 1504. A Treatise in the praise of the Carmelites was printed at Florence in 1593. and at Lyons in 1639. An Encomium of St. Anne an Office for the Festivals of St. Anne and St. Joachim were printed at Mayence in 1605. and at Collen in 1624. a Treatise of Providence printed at Altorf in 1611. His Works of Philosophy are a mystical Chronology of the Intelligences which move the Heavens printed at Collen in 1576. 4 Books Entituled Antipalus Maleficiorum a Solution of 8 Questions propos'd by the Emperor Maximilian Entituled Royal Curiosity were printed at Oppenheim in 1515. at Frankfort in 1550. at Mayence in 1605. at Douay in 1621. The Polygraphy in Six Books wherein he explains the different ways of expressing our Thoughts in Writing printed in 1318. and at Collen in 1571. The Steganography or the Art of writing in Cyphers printed at Frankfort in 1606. a Work which gave occasion to suspect him of Magick a Treatise of Chymistry printed in 1611. and at Strasburg in 1613. He wrote also many other Pieces which were never printed Jerom Savonarola Descended of a Family in Padua was Born at Ferrara the 21st of October 1452. He entred into the Order of St. Dominick in 1474. and made himself Famous by his Jerom Savonarola a Dominican frequent and fervent Sermons and by the Austerity of his Life and his Preaching he acquir'd so great Reputation in the City of Florence that he Govern'd it for the space of 4 years as if he had been its Sovereign until his Enemies took him by force out of his Monastery in 1498. clapt him up in Prison and Condemn'd him to be Burnt which Punishment he suffer'd May 23. of the same year with all possible Constancy and with Exemplary Piety He wrote a prodigious number of Moral Spiritual and Ascetick Books whereof here follows a Catalogue The Triumph of the Cross or of the Truth of Religion divided into 4 Books 5 Books of the Simplicity of a Christian Life 3 Books against Judicial Astrology Explications of the Lord's Prayer and the Angelical Salutation Treatises of Humility of the Love of Jesus Christ and of the Life of Widows a Lamentation of the Spouse of Jesus Christ against false Apostles or an Exhortation to the Faithful to pray unto God for the Renovation of the Church and a Prediction upon this Subject 7 Dialogues between the Soul and the Spirit and 3 between Reason and Sense 2 Books of Prayer Rules about Prayer and a Christian Life an Explication of the Decalogue a Treatise of the Sacrifice of the Mass and its Mysteries a Letter of frequent Communion the Benefits granted to Christians by the Mystery and by the Sign of the Cross a Discourse of the manner of Living well and tending towards God a Letter to his Father upon his taking the Habit in the Order of St. Dominick of the perfection of the State of Regulars Rules for living with discretion and according to Order in Religious Houses many Letters to the Friars of his Congregation of Spiritual reading to Sisters of the third Order of St. Dominick a Discourse which he made at Receiving the Holy Sacrament after his Condemnation a Treatise of the Degrees whereby we ascend to the perfection of a Spiritual Life 7 Rules which ought to be observ'd by all Regulars a Prayer or Meditation upon the Psalm Diligam te Domine a Treatise of the Mystery of the Cross Meditations upon the Psalms 30 50 79 and many others the Manual and Instruction for Confessors 30 Sermons for the Sundays of the Year and upon the Festivals of Saints a Quadragesimale Compos'd of 48 Sermons Homilies upon the Books of Exodus Ruth Esther and Job upon the Psalms and Canticles upon the Prophets Ezekiel Micah Haggai Amos and Zachary upon the Lamentations of Jeremy and the first Epistle of St. John and many Sermons upon different Subjects a Course of Sermons for Advent and another for Lent some Apologetical Letters and one in particular to shew the Nullity and Injustice of the Excommunication pass'd against him by Alexander VI. of which he Discourses boldly 3 Apologetical Letters to this Pope an Apologetical Discourse upon this Text in Psalm 7th O Lord my God I have hop'd in thee an Apology for the Friars of the Congregation of St. Mark of his own Order which was Founded at Florence 9 Dialogues of the Prophetical Truth an Abridgment of Revelations and many other Spiritual and Ascetick Letters All these Works being for the most part written in Italian were printed at Florence and in other places He wrote also Commentaries upon many Books of Scripture a Treatise of the Government of the Republick of Florence Treatises of Moral Divinity about Usury Simony the Defence of our Neighbour and Theft and when he was in Prison he wrote a Commentary upon the 7 Penitential Psalms The Works of this