Lucius Plotius who began to exercise the Youth in that Language Cicero being but a Child They distinguished those Exercises into several kinds sometimes they took a Moral Subject which they handled so as to alledge nothing that was particular but only some general Notions which had no relation to any Fact or Circumstance This they called Theses and * In Praef. Cont. Seneca the Rhetor says that those were the Exercises practised before Cicero although it appears from what hath been said that they had some other Exercises which consisted in some Discourses which they made upon a true Fact taken †Sucton in lib. de Claris Rhetoribus out of Ancient or Modern History Whereupon they enquired what ought to be done on some Occasions wherein they praised or blamed some Action Cicero calls those Subjects Causes and says in several places that he * Tuscul 1. c. 4. had much exercised himself in them Nay he says in one of his Letters †Ep. Famil l. 9. Ep. 16. that Hirtius and Dolabella Declamed at his House in an Age in which it seems that those Exercises were unseasonable Afterwards they found that true Subjects taken out of ancient History or such as lately happen'd were not fit for that They feigned some Facts and to have more occasion to say some extraordinary things ‖ Petron. Init. they cloathed them with strange Circumstances There was nothing to be heard but Discourses upon what a Man should do when he is ready to escape from a Ship-wrack and seeth upon the Shore some Pyrates who will bind him with Chains or concerning a Man whom a Tyrant should command upon pain of Death to kill his own Father or concerning a Father who should see his Children carried away to be sacrificed by the Command of an Oracle One may see a great number of such like Subjects in Seneca's and Quintilian's Controversies They handled them with such an Eloquence as came much nearer the Style of a Tragical Poet than a Judicious Orator That manner of Studying which was admired in the following Ages in which Men were much less polite made most Writers meer Declamators full of Exaggerations strained Figures Witticisms Equivocations Punns Arguments which prove nothing and all the other Defects of a false Rhetorick They undertook to maintain all sorts of Subjects without having any regard to Truth thinking that one might more improve by exercising one's self to defend bad Causes than to maintain good one 's Thus Julian being yet a Christian Declamed against the Christian Religion in the School of Libanius only said they to form his Mind and use himself to find out probable Arguments pro and con on all Subjects I was obliged somewhat to enlarge upon the Manner of Studying in those Centuries because without having some Notion of it these words of Prudentius in the Abridgment which he himself made of his Life cannot be understood Aetas prima crepantibus Flevit sub ferulis mox docuit toga Infectum vitiis falsa loqui non fine crimine That last Verse denotes well enough the Rhetorical Exercises which I have mention'd which Young Men applied themselves to when they had put on the thorough White Gown that is at Seventeen or Eighteen Years of Age. In effect they learned thereby to speak false things falsa loqui which though spoken as it were out of an ingenious Fancy yet were criminal non sine crimine because by that means they used themselves by degrees to Lye and speak against their Conscience Father Chamillard who put out Prudentius in usum Delphini hath paraphrased those words with some that are more obscure Plenus criminibus didici dicere falsa criminosé But I have not mention'd the Studies of Prudentius's time only by reason of that place but because as we shall see hereafter there is a great many others in our Poet which require that we should think of the Manner of Studying and the Eloquence of his Time The Christians Studied as others did and Reasoned almost as they did One may find a pleasant Description of the Eloquence of that time in St. Jerom's Letter to Nepotianus * Pag. 12. Ed. Gryph concerning the manner how Ecclesiasticks ought to behave themselves Don't you require of me says he Childish Declamations wherein one may find Sentences spread as it were Flowers through the whole Discourse far fetch'd Expressions to flatter the Hearer's Ear and at the end of every Article Witticisms shut up within few Words to excite the Applauses and Exclamations of those that hear us Ne à me quaeras pueriles declamationes sententiarum flosculos verborum lenocinia per fines capitulorum singulorum acuta quaedam breviterque conclusa quae plausus clamores excitent audientium For then to say so by by the bye Acclamations and Applauses were used in Churches as well as Theaters * Ib. p. 14. Which appears by St. Jerom's Advertisement in the same Letter I will not have you says he to be a Declamator and a Babbler without Reason but understand the Mysteries and be instructed in the Secrets of your God 'T is the part of Unlearned Men to seek to be Admired by the ignorant Vulgar by rowling as it were some words and reciting with an extraordinary swiftness An impudent Man doth often explain what he knows not and after he hath imposed upon others fancies himself to be Learned I desired once Gregory Nazianzen who was formerly my Master to explain to me what 's meant by the Second Sabbath after the First in St. Luke And he pleasantly answer'd I will teach you that at Church where when all the People shall applaud me you will be forced to know what you do not know or if you only keep silence you will be look'd upon as a Fool Docebo te super hac re in Ecclesia in qua mihi omni populo acclamante cogeris invitus scire quod nescis aut certè si solus tacueris solus ab omnibus stultitiae condemnaberis To return to Prudentius He confesses that when he applied himself to the Study of Eloquence he lived after a manner somewhat licentious Afterwards he began to make use of his Eloquence at the Barr where his desire of gaining all the Causes he undertook to defend either good or bad exposed him as he says to great Dangers Next to that he obtained twice the Government of some Provinces which he doth not name He was in the Army for some time and was raised by Theodosius or Honorius to a considerable Employment which he describes in these terms Tandem militae gradu Evectum Pietas Principis extulit Assumptum propiùs stare jubens ordine proximo Perhaps he had been Praefect of the Praetorium which was the Chief Dignity of the Empire 'T is not known why nor upon what occasion he retired Home but it appears that in the Fifty seventh Year of his Age he wrote the Preface of his Hymns for Every Day wherein he
third of Greek Words and Phrases either worthy of Observation or such as that Author hath used in a particular Sence If those Index's were Compleat and Correct they would be undoubtedly very useful but they are neither There is a great many Faults in the Numbers and the Sence of Clemens is often mis-represented in them That Passage of Job There is none but is polluted is referred to the 25th Chapter of his Book whereas 't is in the 14th There is in the Index Peccato originali infectae omnium animae corpora 468. d. On the contrary Clemens confutes that Opinion in that place but Sylburgus or another who made that Index in all probability thought of what Clemens should have said in his judgment rather than what he did really say There is besides a Fourth Index before the Book which contains a Catalogue of the Authors cited by Clemens but the Pages in which they are cited being not marked 't is altogether useless 'T were to be wisht for the Common-wealth of Learning not only that Kings were Philosophers or Philosophers Kings but also that Printers were Learned Men or Learned Men Printers and that we might see again the Age of the Manutius's and Stephens to give us good Editions of the Writings of the Antients and make that Study more Easie which is Difficult enough of it self without encreasing the Difficulties by our own Negligence The Life OF EUSEBIUS Bishop of Caesarea THE same Reason that induced me to give the Publick the Life of Clemens Alexandrinus obliges me to give an Account of that of Eusebius of Caesarea It will be so much the more Curious to those who cannot consult the Originals because there happened more Remarkable Things in Eusebius his time than in Clemens's and because the former was in a Higher Station than the latter Eusebius was born in Palestine and perhaps at Caesarea at least * Ap. Socrat l. 5. c. 8. he seems to intimate in the beginning of his Letter to the Christians of that City That he was Instructed in the Christian Faith and Baptized there He was Born towards the End of the Third Century though we cannot find exactly the Year of his Birth He began early to apply himself to Learning especially to Divinity as it sufficiently appears in his Writings wherein may be seen that he had carefully read all sorts of Profane Authors and that all the Writings of the Christians who wrote in Greek and those of the Latin that were translated into that Tongue were known to him He had the advantage of the curious Library which the Martyr Pamphilius his particular Friend had collected at Caesarea It s affirm'd * Hieron Epist ad Chron. Heliod Antipater Bostrencis in Concil Nicaen II. Act. 5. That being become Bishop of this City he entreated Constantine who passed through it and who had bid him ask some Favour in behalf of his Church that he would permit him to make a search into all the Publick Registers to extract the Names of all the Martyrs and the Time of their Death However he has committed Faults enough in Chronology as Joseph Scaliger and a great many other Learned Men have observed and especially in relation to Martyrs as Mr. Dodwel has lately shewn in his Dissertation de Paucitate Martyrum But it was no easie Matter to escape these kind of Faults in such a Work as his Ecclesiastical History which was the first of that sort that was ever undertaken the Primitive Christians taking no care of the History of their Times Eusebius is commonly call'd the Son of Pamphilius Whether he was really his Son as some affirm or his Nephew according to the Opinion of others or in fine as most believe by reason of the great Friendship between them This Pamphilius was of Beryte in Phoenicia and Priest of Caesarea he held Origen's Opinions for whom he wrote an Apology of which there remains to us but a part of it in Latin among the Works of Origen and St. Jerome He made it in Prison where he was put in the Year 307 under the Emperor Decius and where Eusebius did not forsake him He could write only the five first Books having been hinder'd from finishing * Phot. Cod. CXVIII this Work by the Death which he sustered for the Gospel two years after he had been thrown into Prison But Eusebius finish'd it in adding thereto a sixth Book and publish'd it after his Death Pamphilius had for Master †Id. Cod. CXIX Pierius Priest of Alexandria who likewise suffer'd Martyrdom and was also of Origen's Opinion whose Assiduity and Eloquence he imitated which got him the Name of Second Origen It 's not amiss here to relate the Judgment which Photius makes of his Works He advances several things says he remote from those which are at present establish'd in the Church perhaps according to the Custom of the Antients Yet he speaks after a pious manner of the Father and the Son excepting that he assures us that they have Two Essences 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Two Natures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 using the words Essence and Nature as it appears by what precedes and follows in this Passage for that of Hypostasis and not in the sence of the Arians But he speaks of the Holy Spirit in a dangerous and impious manner for he attributes to him a Glory inferiour to that of the Father and the Son Yet he was Catechist of Alexandria under the Patriarch Theonas who was Consecrated in the Year 282. Pamphilius being dead as has been said Eusebius retired to Paulinus Bishop of Tyre his Friend where he was Witness as he tells us * L. 8. c. 6. himself of several Martyrdoms the History of which he has left us in his Book of the Martyrs of Palestine From thence he went into Egypt where he found the Persecution yet more violent and where he was thrown into Prison But this Persecution having ceased he was set at liberty and a while after elected Bishop of Caesarea after the Death of Agapius It 's not certainly known in what Year this Election was made but at least he was already Bishop when Paulinus dedicated a stately Church in the City of Tyre which he had built there which was in the Year 316 in the 10th of Year Constantine's Reign for it was the Custom of the Christians * Ant. Pagi Diss Hypat par 2. c. 3. n. 12 13. as well as of the Pagans to Consecrate their Churches in the time of the Decennales of the Emperors or of any other Solemnity Eusebius recites a fine Oration spoken at this Dedication †L. 10. c. 4. and though he does not say that it was he himself that spoke it yet the Stile of this Oration and the modest Manner after which he mentions him that made it gives one reason to believe that he has supprest his Name only through Modesty One might imagine that he was then but Priest were it
Pagans might be upbraided with they forbad on pain of Death to sacrifice to Idols with the Applauses of all Christians if we believe †Ep. 48. ad Vincentium St. Augustine I must not forget here to observe another effect of Gregory's Rhetorick viz. speaking of the Christian Virgins of Arethusa who had been so ill treated he doth not only inveigh against the Pagans but also addresses himself to our Saviour by way of Apostrophe in these words O Jesus Christ how shall I suffer the Patience you shewed then 10. Julian added ‖ Pag. 94. Insults to ill Treatments and when he deprived the Christians of their Estates he said that he only helped them to observe the Gospel which commands to despise them That Railery may be seen in Julian's Forty third Letter where he says that the Church of the Arians of Edessus having used them violently he had confiscated all the Money of that Church to distribute it to the Soldiers and kept their other Goods for himself lest the Arians being too rich should not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven To which Gregory answers amongst other things that Julian by acting so must needs have fancied that the Gods of Pagans are well pleased that Men should be deprived of what they have without having deserved it and so that they approve Injustice He might have been content with that Answer but he adds That Christ hath commanded some things as necessary and propounded some others only for those who would observe them without absolutely obliging any body to do it Such is according to Gregory the Command of forsaking what one hath 11. One of the things which offended most the Christians of that time and about which they did not always defend themselves so well as they might have done is their being upbraided by the Pagans with keeping up Ignorance * Pag. 99. since they preached nothing but Faith You don't reason said Julian to them you are meer Clowns and all your Wisdom consists in saying Believe Gregory answers to that That if Julian derided the Christians by reason of that Method he should also have derided Pythagoras whose Disciples were wont to say when they were ask'd the Reason of something That Pythagoras had said so which is all one He adds That the Christians mean only by it That it is not lawful to refuse to believe what hath been said by Men Inspired of God but that they so much deserve to be believed that that only is a Demonstration of what they say stronger than the whole Faculty of Reasoning and Contradicting Celsus had raised the same Objection * Origen in Celsum p. 8. c. and laughed at those who said Examine nothing but believe Origen answered That it was indeed impossible for the Common People to examine things throughly and that there was nothing more convenient for them than to Believe without knowing why Such Answers could not very much recommend Christianity nor put the Christians in a Condition of Triumphing over the Pagans who might have stopt their mouths with like Answers For if one must Believe without knowing why one may as well believe any thing though never so absurd 12. Julian having observed that the Church Discipline and good Order among the Christians did very much contribute to unite them one with another and to encrease their number was resolved to introduce them into Paganism He designed to †Pag. 102. set up Schools in every Town wherein the Pagan Religion and good Manners should be taught to order publick Prayers and Censures against those who should commit some Faults and to erect Monasteries and Hospitals where the Poor Sick c. should be taken care of The Christians had maintained themselves and encreased in the midst of Persecutions by such means which were much more proper to work upon the Common People than Reasoning Those who have writ concerning the manner how Christianity was propagated have most of them omitted I know not why the good Order and constant Charity practised among them 13. To make an end of the Extract of that Oration I shall only say that Gregory doth afterwards * Pag. 103 c. fall upon the Theology of the Pagans He is much stronger on this occasion than when he defends himself and it seems that he knew much better the weak-side of the Pagan Religion than the strong one of his own I shall further give an Extract of the chief places of his Second Oration against Julian and then I shall only in general shew the Subject of the other Writings of Gregory which will be sufficient to know his Genius That Oration contains in general the ill Designs of Julian against the Christians some of his Actions and his Death 1 He †Orat. iv p. 111. would favour the Jews to oppose them to the Christians and rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem When the Jews began that Work there happened as when Julian himself was building with his Brother Gallus so great an Earthquake that they all ran away As they were going into a neighbouring Temple to secure themselves the Gates shut themselves of their own motion as some reported it But every body if we believe Gregory affirmed that as they intended to force their entrance into that Temple some Flames came out of it which consumed part of them and lamed the rest If any miraculous thing happen'd on this occasion it must be confest that they took little care to write it faithfully since History varies so much about it as one may see by comparing only Socrates and Sozomen with Gregory However the latter speaks very positively of that Fire which came out of the Foundations or out of the Temple and to convince altogether Unbelievers he adds Let no body refuse to believe those Miracles unless he rejects the other Miracles of God too That which is most admirable and glorious is that a Light was seen in Heaven which represented the Cross c. The Miracle did not stop there Let those who have seen that Miracle says Gregory shew their Cloaths mark'd with the Cross As soon as any one either of ours or a Stranger related this or heard some body who related it he perceived that Wonder either in himself or those who were by him He saw it shine in his Cloaths or in those of others after a more artificial manner than the finest Weaving or the most exact Picture can represent it That Miracle together with the fore-going converted an infinite number of People if we believe Gregory 2. Afterwards he * Pag. 114 c. describes Julian's March and Behaviour against the Persians and his Death about which they did not agree some relating it one way and some another a variety to be observed not only amongst those who were not at the Fight where he died but also amongst those who were in it Gregory says what he heard concerning it but he hath not related that was reported about it as it
appears from what Sozomen relates lib. 4. c. 1 2. But he forbears especially saying that Libanius the Sophist accused the Christians of having killed that Emperor From whence one may learn that when the Question is about Facts one ought not to rely too much upon Circumstances Our Author who takes advantage of every thing prefers Constans before Julian †Fag 118. because Constans his Funeral was better ordered than his Cousin's and because he was Praised after his Death whereas the Memory of Julian was abhorred by the Christians Among the Ceremonies wherewith they honoured that of Constans Gregory reckons * Ibid. the Nocturnal Hymns and Torches as if Constans had been the happier for it after his Death 3. After having upbraided Julian with his Inconstancy Covetousness angry Temper and several other Vices †Pag. 121 c. he says that he had foreseen a great while before when he was at Athens what others knew by experience of that Emperor It seem'd to him that no good thing could be expected from a Man who shook his Head at ever minute who moved and raised up his Shoulders who had wandring Eyes a furious Look staggering Feet an insolent Countenance together with something that was ridiculous an excessive breaking in laughter and a broken Voice who asked impertinent Questions and returned no better Answers When Gregory saw this he said in the presence of many Persons that he wished to prove a false Diviner but that the Roman Empire was breeding a great Evil. A ‖ Cunaeus Praes in Caesares learned Man whom I have already quoted could not abide that Gregory should find fault with Julian for some things which of themselves have no relation with Vertue 4. Gregory * Pag. 124 127. who had begged of God that Julian should be punished as soon as he died look'd upon the Pagans with Pity and exhorted the Christians to treat 'em with Mildness though he rejoyces because the Christian Churches would be no more polluted the Altars profaned Things consecrated to God ravished Church-men ill treated the Relicks of Martyrs burnt c. Afterwards he insults over the False Gods and admonishes the Christians not to make an ill use of Prosperity and to forbeat doing what they reproached to the Pagans In the beginning of his †Pag. 128. Exhortation he speaks of himself thus to excite the Attention of the Hearers Hear the Discourse of a Man who hath not acquired a mean knowledge of those things either by the experience of what happens every day or by the reading of ancient Books and ancient Histories 5. However the greatest ‖ Pag. 131. Satisfaction of the Christians after Julian's Death was according to Gregory that those who had persecuted the Christians were ridiculed upon the Stage and in Publick Places and Assemblies That which is surprising says he is that those who persecuted us together with others do now overthrow with great Acclamations the Statues of the Gods by whom they were so long deceived These who worshipp'd them yesterday do now use them opprobriously But those who continued in the Heathenish Religion were undoubtedly very much offended to see the Statues of their Gods so dealt with and could not look upon the Christians as moderate Men. For certainly those Statues were as dear to them as the most Sacred Things were to the Christians Besides those who changed their Religion as often as they had a new Emperor and became so suddenly Enemies to the Gods whom they had worshipped all their life could not but be very much suspected 6. Lastly Gregory having * Pag. 183. derided Julian's Speeches and Writings which notwithstanding are not so contemptible tells him that he boasts in vain of having never contracted any Crudity by eating too much since the Harm he had done the Christians was infinitely greater than the Good which might accrue to the Empire from his Sobriety When one only Man says he is troubled with Crudities and feels the Inconveniences of it Is the Commonwealth the worse for it But the whole Empire must needs suffer upon the account of so violent a Persecution and so many Troubles In effect the want of Royal Vertues in a Prince is a greater defect than to be destitute of those which Private Men ought to have To return to our History Gregory having been ordained a Priest against his Will as hath been already said resolved to retire into the solitary places of Pontus without his Father's leave His Brother Caesarius being then returned from Court to live with his Parents helped him to it In the mean time his Father being a very Old Man and no longer able to bear the burthen of a Bishoprick obliged him to return to help him Basil himself endeavoured to persuade him not to deny his Father He was made a Bishop to be his Coadjutor and performed the Episcopal Functions which his Father was not able to perform At that time he made the Oration which is the Fifth in order wherein he addresses himself to his Father and to Basil * Pag. 136. and says that he took the Long Habit and Miter at their Sollicitation 'T is a hard matter to know whether he pronounced that Complement or was contented to write it down but he recited before the People the Forty first Oration which runs upon the same Subject Not long after he made the long Apology for his Flight which is in the beginning of his Works He sets down at large the Difficulties which attend the Exercise of Episcopacy and says that notwithstanding he was resolved to come to comply with the Church of Nazianzum and his Parents Desires who equally wished for his return Among the Reasons which had deterred him from Episcopacy and Priesthood he reckons the shameful manner after which many endeavoured to come to it though they were never so unworthy of it and and the multitude of Pretenders * Orat. i. p. 5. They look upon that Dignity says he not as an Employment wherein they ought to be Examples of Vertue but as the means of Maintaining themselves not as a Ministry of which they must give an Account but as a Magistracy which is liable to no Examination They are almost more numerous than those whom they govern c. And I believe that the Evil growing worse in time they 'll have no body to govern but all will be Teachers and Saul himself shall be seen among the Prophets He says * Pag. 21. That ignorant Men and Children were brought into the Pulpits †Pag. 30. That Church-men were not better than the Scribes and Pharisees ‖ Pag. 33. That no Charity was observed in them but only Anger and Passion That their Piety did only consist in condemning the Impiety of other Men whose Conduct they observed not to reclaim them but to defame them That they blamed or praised Men not because of their good or bad Life but according to the Party which they had
embraced That they admired among themselves what they sharply censured in another Party That there was nothing to be seen amongst 'em but Disputes like Night-Fights wherein Friends are not distinguished from Enemies That they wrangled about Trifles on the specious Pretence of defending the Faith Lastly That they were abhorred by the Heathens and despised by good Men among the Christians This is a true Picture of the Lives of the Ecclesiasticks in his time as it doth but too plainly appear by the History of that time It 's an unlucky thing that those of our time are so much like them that were it not known from whence those Complaints come one would be apt to look upon them as a Picture of our Modern Divines Another Difficulty which attended the Exercise of Episcopacy consisted in discoursing well of the Mysteries of Christianity and especially of the * Pag. 16. Holy Trinity concerning which according to Gregory a medium ought to be kept between the Jews who acknowledge but One God and the Pagans who worship Many A Medium which Sabellius did not keep by making the same God considered under several Relations Father Son and Holy Spirit nor Arius by maintaining that they are of different Natures As for him he believed as we have already seen and as he repeats it here and in many other places that he kept that wished for Medium by establishing Three Principles Equal in Perfection though the Father be the Principle of the Son and Holy Spirit It seems that Gregory had not been long his Father's Coadjutor when his Brother Caesarius died 'T was not long after the Earthquake which happen'd in Bithynia in October in the Year 368. He was then at * Orat. x. p. 169. Nice where he exercised the Office of Questor or the Emperor's Treasurer That City was almost altogether ruined and he was the only Officer of Valens who saved himself from that Danger Gregory made a Funeral Oration in his Praise which is the Tenth of those that are extant He makes a short Description of his Life the chief Circumstances of which I have related describes the Vanity of whatever we enjoy here and makes several Observations upon Death and the manner of comforting one's self upon the Death of one's Relations He wishes that his Brother may be in †Pag. 168. Abraham's Bosom whatever it may be And towards the ‖ Pag. 173. end describing the Happiness of Good Men after Death he says that according to Wise Men their Souls are full of Joy in the Contemplation of their future Happiness until they are received into the Heavenly Glory after the Resurrection Caesarius had given his Estate to the Poor at his Death yet notwithstanding they had much ado to save it those who were at his death having feized the greatest part of it as Gregory complains in his Eighteenth Letter whereby he desires Sophronius Governor of Bithynia to use his Authority in it Basil Gregory's Friend having been made Bishop of Caesarea * Vid. Pagi Crit. ad hunc ann in the Year 370 had some difference with Valens which I shall not mention here because it doth not at all relate to the Life of his Friend This was perhaps the reason that moved that Emperor to divide Cappadocia into Two Provinces and to make Tyane the Metropolis of the Second Cappadocia Forasmuch as the Jurisdiction of the Metropolitans reached as far as the extent of the Province several Bishops who were before Suffragan of Caesarea became Suffragan of Tyane so that Basil saw himself at the head of a lesser number of Bishops than before †Orat. xx p. 456. The new Metropolitan drew to himself the Provincial Assemblies ceased the Revenues of his Diocess and omitted nothing to lessen the Authority and Revenues of Basil Anthimus such was the Bishop of Tyane's Name who was an Arian shelter'd himself under the pretence of Piety and said that he could not give up the Flocks to Basil's Instruction whose Opinions concerning the Son of God were not right nor suffer that any Tribute should be paid to Hereticks Gregory assures us that he got some Soldiers to stop Basil's Mules to hinder him from receiving his Rents Basil found no other remedy to it but to make new Bishops who should have a greater care of the Flocks than he could have and by whose means every Town should carefully receive what was due to them Sasime being one of those Towns in which he was resolved to put some Bishops he cast his Eyes upon his Friend Gregory to send him to it without considering that that Place was altogether unworthy of a Person of such Merit 'T was a * Greg. de Vita sua p. 7. little Town without Water and Grass and full of Dust a Passage for Soldiers and inhabited only by some few poor Men. The Income of that Bishoprick was very small and besides he must either resolve to defend it by Force against Anthymus or submit to that new Metropolitan Gregory refused that Employment but at length the Importunity and Dexterity of Basil who wrought upon Gregory's Father obliged him to accept of it It seems that about that time he made his Seventh Oration wherein he addresses himself to his Father and Basil and desires their Help and Instruction to govern his new Church at Sasime Notwithstanding he says freely enough to Basil that the Episcopal Throne had made a great Alteration in him and that he was much milder when he was among the Sheep than since he was a Pastor The next day he made * Orat. vi another Oration on the Arrival of Gregory Nyssen Basil's Brother to whom he further complains of the violence his Brother had done him and because 't was a Day of some Martyr's Feast he adds several things on that occasion concerning the Manner of Celebrating Holy-days not with Profane Rejoycing but Pious Exercises He says amongst other things That 't is then time to raise one's self and become God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if one may so say and that the Martyrs perform therein the Office of Mediators 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Expression to become God instead of to become a Good Man and despise Earthly things doth often occur in Gregory's Writings He says elsewhere That the Priests * Orat. i. p. 31. Orat. xxiii p. 410. are Gods and Deifie other Men †Orat. ii p. 46. That Solitude Deify's Introducing ‖ Orat. xx p. 349. Basil who refused to embrace Arianism he makes him say That he could not worship a Creature he who was a Creature of God too and had received a Commandment of being God It ought to be observed that that Expression was used among the Pythagoreans as may be seen by the last Golden Verse of Pythagoras upon which Hierocles may be consulted When Gregory came to Sasime the misery of that Place made him believe that Basil despised him and abused altogether his Friendship Though he took
Christians did against the Opinion of Fate He says that if it be true there should be no Laws nor Punishments against Malefactors quos ferrea Fata Cogunt ad facinus inevitabile mergunt Quin velle adigunt pravum insinuantia votum Ne liceat miseris vetitum committere nolle That Unmoveable Fate doth unavoidably force to Sin That it disposes the Will to do Ill so that Men cannot forbear being willing to do what is forbidden 4. The Heathen Orator vaunted much the Institution and Chastity of the Vestales But Prudentius who did not suffer himself to be surprized by fine words when the Question was about Paganism replied * Ver. 1065. That it must be observed that the Vestales were chosen in their Childhood before they came to despise the lawful Bond of Marriage of their own motion and kindled with the love of Virginity and Religion They Consecrate says he their Chastity before the Altars against their Wills and those poor Wretches are deprived of a Pleasure which they take away from them but they have not despised it If they are Chaste as to the Body they are not so as to the Mind They enjoy no Rest in their Beds where an Invisible Wound makes them sigh after the Nuptial Torches The same Argument cannot be made use of against the Christian Nuns of that time who were permitted to Marry if they were not content with Celebacy But some things have happen'd since among a part of Christians by the means whereof we see now-a-days upon the Theater of Christianity its several Parties act the same Scene between themselves which was acted formerly by the Pagans and Christians VII Lastly There are Forty nine Quadrants to be found in the Works of Prudentius upon several Histories of the Old and New Testament which make up a little Book entitled Enchiridion whereby the Style is still less Poetical than that of the other Works of our Poet. THE HISTORY OF PELAGIANISM IN the Fourth Century a vast number of People went to visit the Holy Places in Pulestine which made the Books of Origen to be known in the West where they were unknown before Rufinus amongst others a Priest of Aquileia having lived thirty Years in the East and studied under Evagrius an Origenist not only embraced the Opinions of Origen but being returned into Italy spread them every where by translating several of his Works Pelagius and Celestius learned of him at Rome that Doctrine of which I shall speak hereafter They were both Monks and of Great Britain Celestius was a Scotch-man and Pelagius an English-man The latter's Name was Morgan in the Language of his Countrey that is Born of the Sea or in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Name which he took out of his Native Countrey If we believe * In Proem Dial. cont Pelag. St. Jeram Pelagius was an ignorant Fellow who knew not how to express himself who deserved more to be pitied than envied and Celestius a Solecism-maker But St. Augustine speaks well of their Parts in several Places and indeed it appears by their Fragments which remain in his Works that they did not express themselves so ill as St. Jerom says We have still two Pieces of Pelagius among the Supposititious Writings of this latter whereof one is a Letter to Demetriades and the other is entitled Symboli Explanatio ad Damasum whereas it should be called Professio Fidei ad Innocentium for Pelagius sent it to Innocent This last Piece is also to be found in Baronius and in the First Volume of the Councils of Cologne in 1606. Pelagius made a long stay at Rome where he got a great Reputation by his Works and Conduct Hence it is that Augustin Bishop of Hippo praised him and wrote a very obliging Letter to him before he fell a Disputing with him He calls him in his Book De Peccatorum Meritis †Cap. 1 3. Vir ut audio sanctus nec parvo profectu Christianus bonus ac praedicandus Vir As I hear says he he is a Holy Man and very much improved in Piety a Good Man and worthy of Praise Petavius in his Book * Dogm Theol. T. 3. p. 586. De Pelagianorum Semi-Pelagianorum Dogmatum Historia observes that St. Augustin wrote the Book in which he speaks so advantageously of Pelagius after the Condemnation of Celestius in the Council of Carthage in 412. From whence he concludes that St. Chrysostom doth not mention the same Pelagius in his Fourth Letter wherein he laments the Fall of a Monk of the same Name 'T is not more likely that Pelagius the Hermit to whom St. Isidorus of Damietto wrote †Lib. 1. Ep. 314. sharp Censures was the same whose History I write and whose Life was always unblameable as it appears by St. Augustin's Testimony Rome having been taken by the Goths in the Year 410 ‖ Vid. Vsser Brit. Eccl. Antiq. c. 9. p. 16. Pelagius who was there left it and sailed into Africa but he did not stay there having presently set out for the East In the mean time Celestius his Disciple stay'd at Carthage and aspired to be Priest of that Church but because he made no scruple to maintain the Opinions of his Master he was accused by Paulinus a Deacon of the same Church in a Council wherein Aurelius Bishop of Carthage presided in the before-mentioned Year Celestius was Condemned and Excommunicated as having maintained these Seven Propositions 1. That Adam was created a Mortal Man and would have died whether he had sinned or not 2. That Adam's Sin had prejudiced none but himself not all Mankind 3. That the Law brought Men to the Heavenly Kingdom as well as the Gospel 4. That before the Coming of Jesus Christ Men were without Sin 5. That New-born Children are in the same Condition in which Adam was before his Fall 6. That all Men do not die through the Death and Prevarication of Adam as all Men do not rise through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ 7. That Man is without Sin and may easily obey God's Commands if He pleases Celestius answered all those Heads but we have only some Fragments of his Answers in St. Augustine's Book that is to say we have no other Witnesses of his Doctrine but his Adversaries who took no great care to propose their Accusations clearly and to apprehend well of the Opinions of those whom they accused as it appears by the Obscurity of the before mention'd Heads * Aug. de Pecc Orig. c. 3. Celestius said among other things that as for what concerns the Propagation of Sin He had heard many Catholick Priests and especially Rufinus deny it He presented a Request to the Council wherein he consest that Children were Redeemed by Baptism But he was Condemned notwithstanding and being obliged to leave Africa he went into Sicily where he wrote some Books in his Vindication From thence some short Questions were sent to St. Augustine which Celestius
met to Condemn Nestorius in the Year 431. Cyril of Alexandria presided in it and whilst it sate John Bishop of Antioch met with Thirty other Bishops who made some Canons opposite to those of that Council What is singular in it is that the Party of Cyril and that of John accused each other of Pelagianism but the greatest Party approved the Deposal of Julian and the other Italian Bishops whom Nestorius had treated more mildly He is accused of having been of their Opinion and of having maintained that Christ became the Son of God by reason of the good use he made of his Free-Will for a Reward whereof God had united him to the Eternal Word Hence it is that Pelagianism and Nestorianism were condemned together in that Council But notwithstanding all this and the care of Three Popes Celestinus Xystus III. and Leo I. Semi-Pelagianism maintained it self in the Gauls Perhaps the manner after which Celestinus wrote to the Bishops of France contributed towards it because although he condemned Pelagius with heat and praised much St. Augustine yet he said at the end of his Letter That as to what concerned the profound and difficult Questions which were mixed with that Controversie and had been handled at large by those who opposed the Hereticks as he durst not despise 'em he did not believe neither that it was necessary to determine one's self thereupon One may see in * Vbi sup c. 12. Bishop Vsher how much St. Prosper and the Popes Xystus and Leo laboured to confute or destroy Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism About the same time Vincentius Lirinensis wrote his Commonitorium that is three Years after the Council of Ephesus He is suspected to be the Author of the Objections which St. Prosper confuted under the Title of Objectiones Vincentianae His Commonitory was re-printed last Year 1687. in Twelves at Cambridge with Balusius's Notes and Sr. Augustine's Book de Haeresibus One may also see in †Ibid. Bishop Vsher the Devastation which the Scots and Picts made in England in that Century the Arrival of the Saxons into that Island after what manner they made themselves Masters of it and the other Events of that Time Before * Vid. Vsser ubi sup c. 13. those Misfortunes happen'd in England a Monk whose Name was Faustus went from that Countrey into Gallia Narbonensis where he became Abbot of Lerins and afterwards Bishop of Riez after Maximus to whom he had also succeeded in the Abbey of Lerins He assisted at a Council held at Rome towards the End of the Year 462 wherein it was agreed that a Council should be held every Year in the Gauls which should be convocated by the Archbishop of Arles There was one held a little while after in that City which ordered Faustus to declare his Opinions concerning the Matter of Grace and another at Lyons by the Order of which he added something to what he had already written because some new Errors had been discovered Those Errors are those to which the Divines of Marseilles gave the Name of Predestinarian Heresie which some maintain to have been a true Heresie and others the Opinion of St. Augustine We have no more the Acts of those two Synods but Faustus's Work is still extant it is entitled De Gratia Libero Arbitrio directed to Leontius Bishop of Arles and contains very clearly the Semi-Pelagianism Erasmus printed it for the first time at Basil in 1528 and it was since inserted into the Eighth Tome of the Bibliotheca Patrum Faustus sent the Opinions of the Second Council of Arles to a Predestinarian Priest named Lucidus to oblige him to retract his Errors and subscribe to the Doctrine of that Council We have still his Letter to Lucidus and the Answer of that Priest directed to the Bishops who met at Arles wherein he declares That he condemns the Opinions of those who believe that Free-Will was altogether lost after the Fall of the First Man That Christ died not for all Men That some are designed for Death and others for Life That from Adam to Christ no Heathen was saved by the First Grace of God that is by the Law of Nature because they have lost Free-Will in our First Father That the Patriarchs Prophets and greatest Saints have been in Paradise before the time of the Redemption This is almost an Abridgment of Faustus's Book Some learned Men have maintained that Faustus did more than he was order'd and that many of those who assisted at the Councils of Arles and Lyons would not have subscribed to his Book But 't is hard to apprehend how a Bishop who was very much esteem'd as it appears by the Letters of Sidonius Apollinaris Bishop of Clermont in Auvergne who makes his Encomium in many places and by Gennadius who praises that Work 't is I say somewhat hard to apprehend how he could have been so bold as to ascribe to a Council some Opinions which the greatest part of them would have abhorred and that the Members of that Council should shew no resentment of it Indeed those who say that Faustus did more than he was bid give no reason for it only they cannot believe that there was so many Semi-Pelagians in the Gauls One may see in Bishop Vsher the Judgment of several learned Men concerning Faustus and whereof the greatest part do not much favour him Baronius himself speaks ill of him so that what happen'd formerly to the Pelagians happens now-a-days to the Semi-Pelagians viz. those who maintain their chief Doctrines condemn them only because some Men who were more esteem'd than they have formerly condemn'd them Faustus his Book * Vsser ubi sup c. 14. did not remain unknown seeing they brought it to Constantinople where the Minds were divided concerning the Doctrines which it contain'd Some affirmed it was Orthodox and others Heretical as it appears by a Letter of Possâ—â—â— an African Bishop who was then at â—â—â—â—tantinople and wrote from thence to Pope Hormisda in the Year 520 to know what he thought of it Some Persons of the greatest Quality among which were Vitalian and Justinian who was since Emperor desired to know the Opinions of the Church of Rome thereupon Hormisda disapproved Faustus his Book and referred them to those of St. Augustine Of Predestination and Perseverance There was then at Constantinople a Monk whose Name was John Maxentius who wrote an Answer * Tom. 6. Bibl. P. P. Ed. Col. to Hormisda's Letter wherein he compares the Opinions of St. Augustine and Faustus and sharply censures Possessor and those who maintained that Faustus his Book was Orthodox It appears from thence that Possessor was a Semi-Pelagian and consequently that the Councils of Africa had not been yet able to bring all the Bishops of that Church to their Decisions The Vandals had invaded Africa during the heat of the Pelagian Controversies â—nd because they were Arian they turned out a great number of Bishops who followed the Decrees of the Council of Nice Thrasamond King of the Vandals had sent Sixty of the Byzacene Province into Banishment to Sardinia They were consulted from the East concerning the Controversies about Grace rather to have a publick Declaration of their Opinions than to be Instructed seeing those who wrote to them were already fixed in their Opinion and condemned in their Letters not only the Pelagians but the Books of Faustus Fulgentius Bishop of Esfagues answered in the Name of the others and explained the Opinion of St. Augustine in a Letter and a private Book directed to Paulus Diaconus The same Fulgentius wrote also some other Books concerning the same Matter He had composed Seven Books against Faustus his Two De Gratia Libero Arbitrio but they are lost Those African Bishops returned to their Churches in the Year 523 in which Thrasamond died as we learn from Victor of Tonneins in his Chronicle Fulgentius had confuted Faustus before he departed from Sardinia from whence it follows as well as from Possessor's Letter that Binius should not have placed the Third Council of Arles the Opinions of which Faustus had explained in the Year 524 But this is not the only Fault he hath committed he hath corrected or rather corrupted as he thought fit a vast number of Places in the Ancient Councils without having any regard to Manuscripts Wherefore * Vb. sup p. 231. Bishop Vsher gives him the Title of Contaminator Conciliorum As Hilary and Leontius Archbishops of Arles had favoured Semi-Pelagianism so Caesarius who succeeded Leontius favoured what the Divines of Marseilles call'd Predestinatianism that is the Opinions of St. Augustine The Second Council of Orange was held under his Direction in the Year 529 which approved St. Augustine's Opinions and whereof the Acts may be seen entire in †Vb. sup p. 262. Bishop Vsher A little while after another Council was held at Valence concerning the same Matters which did also condemn Semi-Pelagianism Boniface II. approved the Acts of that Council by a Letter which he wrote to Caesarius in the Year 531 which the same learned Primate of Ireland hath inserted in his Work Here ends the History of Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism which notwithstanding was not extinguished in the Gauls and England by so many Endeavours and Decrees of the Defenders of Grace as may be seen by the History of Godescale written by the same Bishop What can one conclude from thence according to St. Augustine's Principles but that God was not pleased to bestow his Grace upon Anathema's Confiscations Deposals and Banishments which the Godly Emperors and Holy Councils made use of against the Unfortunate Pelagians FINIS