Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
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A27390
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Constantius the Apostate being a short account of his life and the sense of the primitive Christians about his succession and their behaviour toward him : wherein is shown the unlawfulness of excluding the next heir upon the account of religion, and the necessity of passive obedience, as well to the unlawfull oppressour, as the legal persecutour : being a full answer to a late pamphlet intituled Julian the Apostate, &c.
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Bennet, John, d. 1686.
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1683
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Wing B1884; ESTC R24199
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39,779
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Pursevant though it be excus'd in the eye of the Law it will not be so hereafter in heaven For if he onely design'd an arrest as 't is own'd he did a man ought not to take away his life this is plain from Dr. Hammond Prac. Cat. p. 164. where he tells us a private man may not by the Law of Christ take away another's life to save his own goods or to repell any such kind of injury because life is more than goods nay ' â—twould be better to avoid taking away another's life though to save his own thereby imitating his Saviour who laid down his life for his enemies lbid As to those arguments p. 15. from Sir Simon Ewe's Iournal to prove the lawfulness and necessity of excluding a Popish Successour I hardly think them worth the least remark For what can be more unreasonable than that which they seem to enforce that it had been just and warrantable not onely to have dis-inherited the Queen of Scots but to have taken away her life too for her Religion For what just pretence could Queen Elizabeth have to Condemn a Princess altogether as independent as her self and one that was onely accountable to God for her actions they might as well have addrest against the French King or the Pope for endeavouring to pervert her Majestie 's Subjects for the Queen had equal power over these Princes though she had them not in possession And though an Act of Parliament against them would not perhaps have been of very great force yet it would have been expedient to have shewn her good will as Mr. Johnson calls it But we shall find the weakness of these arguments in the effect they bad on the Queen for she was so far from being persuaded that the fact was lawfull that she always deny'd her being consenting or so much as privy to it when it was done and though there might be some probable reasons to believe she was innocent yet the very suspicion of her being privy to it has fixt an eternal blot upon her otherwise unspotted reputation So that these arguments will seem of very little weight to his present Majesty when all the world knows how unjustly and unsuccessfully too they were urg'd against his great Ancestour to a Princess that was her mortal enemy and one but too desirous of her destruction There is nothing now left in the Preface that is worth taking notice of but the Act of the 13 of Queen Elizabeth whereby 't was enacted Treason during her life to affirm that she and her Parliament could not make Laws and Statutes of sufficient force and validity to limit and bind the Crown of this Realm and the Descent Limitation Inheritance c. I shall not presume to determine of the equity and justice of this Act or whether it were in their power to doe as they did but the Excellent Authour of a late Pamphlet entituled The Great point of Succession discussed being an Answer to the History of Succession c. though he was a Member of those very Parliaments that were so hot for the Bill of Exclusion freely declares that the Crown of England is and ought to be inseparably annext to proximity of blood by the Laws of God and Nature and this Realm so that consequently any Act that pretends to alter the Succession is utterly unlawfull and ipso facto void and so it ought to be adjudged when it ever comes to the Question before the Reverend Iudges p. 35. If any one requires fuller satisfaction I refer him to the Book it self which will convince not onely the diffiders but the prejudic'd too of the truth of what is here deliver'd As for the great Subscribers to that Act we have a Hierarchy not at all inferiour to them either in piety or learning who are of the contrary opinion and till I know the reasons why they subscrib'd I shall not be sway'd by their Authorities when I think I have as great to ballance them 'T will be time now to give some account of the ensuing Work but any considering man will reade the design in the Title Page or at least will find it in the Book it self from which I shall no longer detain him The Editions of those Authours that are Cited AThanasius 2 Vol. Par. 1627. Lactantius Basil. 1563. Origen con Cel. Cantab. 1658. August Opera Bas. 1569. Gregory Naz. Par. 1609. Tertullian Par. 1616. Ambrose Bas. 1555. Athenagoras Par. 1577. Theodoret Par. 1673. Rufinus Par. 1580. Nicep Call Fran. 1588. Socratis and Sozome Histor. Eccl. Par. 1668. Homilies Lon. 1623. The Editions of Dr. Hammond Bishop Taylor c. of the English Divines are not so various that I need to set down here the particular times or places when and where they were printed Constantius THE APOSTATE CHAP. I. A Short Account of the Life of Constantius CONSTANTINE the Great having by his last Will divided his Empire between his three Sons Constantine Constantius Constance died in the Suburbs of Nicomedia no one of his Sons being present at his death But Constantius not so far off as the other two first came to Court where having paid the usual respects that are due to the memory of a deceased Parent as if all other tyes of Nature were buried with his Father he commanded or at least permitted the execution of his Uncle and Cousins Constantius Dalmatius and his Sons Atha p. 856. About three months after the Brothers were proclaim'd Emperours by the Army each took his share though not without some dissatisfaction and disturbance but things being happily compos'd for the present they retir'd to their respective Provinces This agreement did not last long for Constantine thought himself hardly dealt withall and not content with his share of Fâ—ance Spain and Britain would needs encroach upon his Brother Constance who had Italy and Africk but was slain in the prosecution Thus the Empire of the West devolv'd to Constance but all this new accession could not prevent his being assasinated by Magnentius an Usurping Rebel who at length after many defeats by Constantius was forced to that degree of despair that he slew himself and left his Conquerour in the quiet possession of all the Empire I was unwilling to perplex this brief account of his coming to the entire possession of the Empire with the relation of any of his particular actions reserving it rather to this place where I may doe it with less interruption Constantius had not been long upon the Throne but by the insinuations of an Arian Priest he was brought over to be a great favourer of that Heresie the account of his perversion is at large in most Ecclesiastical Histories and because it may be material I shall give it at length out of Theodoret l. 2. c. 3. Constantia Sister to Constantine the Great was very intimate with an Arian Priest who dissembling his own opinion made it his business to defend or excuse Arius this man upon her death-bed she recommended to
away the title of Caesar from Iulian which was equivalent to that of Hâ—ir-Apparent with us thereby shewing his design to dis-inherit him but leaving the prosecution of that War he had begun in Persia he carried his Army against Iulian to be reveng'd of that ungratefull Usurper and to secure himself in the Empire for he might kill Iulian as a Rebell and so his right would fall of course but he could not dis-inherit him as such because God though he gave the power of life and death to the Magistrate hath yet reserv'd the disposing of Kingdoms to himself But to proceed in the Narrative Constantius whether from inward grief or the toil of a long journey or both is not material fell ill at Mopsuecrene a place between Cappadoâ—ia and Cilicia where in a very short time he died of a very high Fever for Marcellinus saith that he burnt all over like fire so that his servants could not so much as touch his body Socrates indeed gives us a far different account of his distemper attributing his Death to an Apoplexy I shall leave the reconciliation of these two Historians to those that think themselves concern'd in it for it is not material here of what death he died but it is certain the News of it was miraculously convey'd to Iulian for after he had consulted his Gods and Priests about the event of things and they had assur'd him of success above his hopes yet he was dissatisfied still he look't upon what they said to be rather slattery than prophecy and thought their predictions rather squar'd to his desires than truth but he was quickly satisfied by an extraordinary revelation for at the very same time the Emperour died in Cilicia a Souldier that lifâ—ed Iulian upon his horse he being seated suddenly himself fell down upon the ground and cried out in the hearing of all the company That he who had rais'd him up so high was fallen himself Marcel lib. 21. Having given this account of his Death I hope it will not be preposterous to speak a word or two of his Repentance Socrates is silent in this matter and the great Athanasius positively affirms that he continued in his damnable Heresie till the last 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 907. And that dying he desir'd to be baptiz'd but not by a holy man but by one Euzoius this is also confirm'd by Socrates that had been depos'd for Arianism Ibid. If any one enquires into the credit of this great Father I shall refer him to Gregory Nazianzen's own Speech in commendation of him which he thus begins In praising Athanasius I praise Vertue it self c. Greg. Nazian in Land Athan. And to Constantius's Character of him who certainly might be believ'd when he commended one he hated in a Letter he sent to the people of Alexandria wherein he highly commends his integrity c. Athan. Works Epist. 2. ad Pop. Alex. Now which is to be believed Athanasius or Gregory in the account of Constantius's dying a Convert or an Apostate I leave the Impartial Reader to judge But the authority he useth to induce us to believe a Christian did that treacherous act is much to be suspected for Amm. Marcell lib. 24. is silent as to that who was concern'd in the expedition and an eye-witness of what past as likewise Eutropius But Aurelius Victor affirms the quite contrary viz. that he was kill'd by a Horse-man of the enemies and one that was â—lying too But Theodoret tells us positively cap. 25. lib. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who it was that struck this just stroke no man knows to this day And that it was not probable that a Christian would be guilty of this fact will manifestly enough appear from the passionate resentments they shew'd at his death See Marcell l. 24. CHAP. VII How they us'd his Memory THE Primitive Christians were so far from offering any injury to the Memory of Constantius that as if they had onely remembred he was their Emperour and now by his being dead own'd a new obligation superadded to that to speak well of Him they deplore his loss with all the demonstrations of a real sorrow the eyes that were wet when he persecuted them wept afresh at his funeral as if they had perfectly learn't that great lesson of their Saviour not onely to bear with but even to love their enemies The Souldiers you would think by the extravagance of their grief had forgot their Character and Constantine himself died not more lamented than his Son Iulian who had no great reason to be fond of his life if he consulted his own safety assisted at his Obsequies and made a very considerable figure in that sorrowfull procession and if we reade Gregory Nizianzen's description of his funeral we must needs stand amaz'd at the greatness of their Charity He tells us that he was carried forth with all the solemnity the Christians us'd to honour the Corps of a Pious Hero with and would fain persuade the people to believe that the very Angels themselves in reward of his unusual piety contributed their assistance to inhance the Glories of his Funeral but whether this is one of that Father's flights or really true I shan't contend this is certain from all the Histories of that age that he died generally lamented and that those that suffer'd by his Edicts did not presume to blaspheme the Memory of him that made them This was the Conduct of the Primitive Christian and if they ever acted contrary it was not to be imputed to their Religion but their Passions I shall easily grant that there are some severe reflexions upon Iulian to be met withall in Authours of very good note but I hope Mr. Iohnson will not infer from that that they are warrantable If he reades those very Fathers thorough he will find that their Theory runs sometimes contrary to their Practice and that they don't always act according to their own principles and I don't know why he should draw those passages into presidents for us which the Authours themselves in their cooler minutes were asham'd to own CHAP. VIII Reflexions on the Behaviour of these Christians wherein of Passive Obedience THat the Persecution under Constantius was much severer than any of the ten former is evident to any one that considers the Cruelâ—ies that were daily acted by the Arian Hereticks who as they were much more zealous for their Opinions than the Heathens so consequently they were more eager in prosecuting those that dissented from them The loss of a Trade or Profession was not the punishment of their Non-conformity but of Life too nay there were penalties inflicted where death was the least part of the punishment But all these heavy grievances did not make them question God's Providence or remonstrate to the Decrees of the Emperour they did not make their pressures just by impatiently submitting to them nor frustrate the reward of their sufferings by reviling their Persecutours thereby by rendring their