of this a litteral knowledge may in part be obtained of the Fruits Doctrines Principles and Practises of the Apostatized Christians after their degeneration of their Synods and Counsels and what they Decreed of the temptations and provocations which they had who retained their integrity both from the Heathen and from the false Christians and how sad and lamentable their conditions were that did not continue faithful which may serve for examples to such among you beloved as are inconstant and of a doubtful mind let them look upon Origen and hear what he saith in his lamentation after his fall and let them consider the Faith and patience of such as chuseth rather to die than they would swear or sacrifice renounce the faith or deny their Lord and Master and therefore were some torn in pieces of wild beasts some Crucified some beheaded some stoned to death some stifled some fryed or Rosted some burned to ashes some hanged some brained some had their eyes pulled out and the empty place seared with a hot Iron some were drowned in the Sea some fettered and famished to death in noysome Prisons and dungeons Oh the torments that they endured are hard to be uttered and that about the exercise of their Conscience and the worship of their God And truly I must tell you O beloved that I was constrained to lay those things before you that if peradventure they might in any wise tend to the Confirming and strengthening of the faith of some to the forewarning of others of shrinking in the time of tryal and to the strengthening of the hands of the weak and feeble against their Persecutors who also hereby may see what judgment and misery came upon sundry of their Persecuting fore-fathers so that in my judgment it may be of use not only to you who are persecuted but also to your oppressors and persecutors who now persist in their wickedness and impiety as if they should never come to judgment for the same well my dearly beloved be not you discomforted and cast down in your spirits because the wicked is set up and the ungodly prospers in his ways and the workers of iniquity they are counted happy yet it was not thus in the beginning neither shall it allways so continue for the Lord our God in his due time will strik the hook into the jaw of the Leviathan so that he shall be Restrained and the pure and upright in heart shall be delivered out of his paw and snare into the glorious liberty of the Children of God wherefore let none be afraid who are called to follow the lamb in this Notable day for I am perswaded that Tribulation nor Persecution Exilment nor Banishment Fire nor Sword things present nor things to come though all these do come shall not be able to seperate us from that love which we are made partakers of in Christ Jesus our Lord in whom I bid you farewel my dearly beloved A GENERAL EPISTLE FOR Young Schoollars and LITTLE CHILDREN Dear Children REmember Your Creator and the end wherefore you were Created now in the day of your Youth before you grow Old in Sin and take rooting in corrupt ground of Unighteousness incline your hearts to Holiness and to the Fear of the Lord that you may abound in wisdom and knowledge learn you to know a tender principle in your hearts to teach and instruct you to withhold and restrain you from Folly and Wantonness from frivolous or vain Gaming and Sporting your selves with idle Toyes and unprofitable Playes which do not only strengthen that which is thereunto addicted in your selves but doth toyle and weary your tender bodies And when you sit down at night some times hungry and often weary consider then what you have reaped by your Playes Sports and Pastimes have you not thereby some time provoked your Tutors to Wrath and Anger against you for neglecting of your Books and Learning have you not also offended and grieved your Parents by your neglect of your business and imployment And then you being sencible of your Fault and Transgression the shew of your Countenance that witnesseth against you and inwardly you are perplexed and terrified partly through fear of your Tutors and partly through fear of your Parents when through your Folly you have procured their Displeasure and then are you afraid of Chastisement now if for the time to come you would be freed from this fear do that which is good by being diligent and keeping in the fear of the Lord and then shall you obtain Praise and Commendation both of your Parents and Tutors Again O Children when you are together whether in Families Schools or else where be not Wild Rude Brutish nor provoke not one another to Folly and Wantonness but be Sober Gentle Meek and Civil and let the Fear of the Lord be before your eyes least you sall into Condemnation And you that are of a Mild Gentle and Tender Nature who seel something in your Hearts restraining you from the Evil which abounds among your fellows if you cannot get dominion over it while you are with them then separate your selves from them at convenient seasons and pertake not with them in their Wantonness in their Folly Plays Sports and Pastimes but rather betake your selves to your Books or in some retired place to wait upon the Lord And if they that be Wild and Wanton through their play and wantonness do get Recreation to their Bodies you through your stillness and waiting upon the Lord shall get Refreshment to their Souls in which you shall have joy and pleasure when they shall be ashamed of their folly and have trouble and sorrow for the same When I was A School boy I was for many years as much inclined to wantonness and play as my Fellows though sometime I was enticed and drawn by them into things which I knew then certainly to be evil and contrary to the tender principle of God in my Conscience yet rather than I would be behind them in their wonton childish follies and thereby have come to have been jeered and derided by them I chused rather at that time to run with them to the same excess of vanity though I knew for certain I ought not to have done it and when for the same I came to be corrected by my Tutor and judged of the Lord I was made to confess that it was just and that I had justly deserved the same Afterwards through the mercy and goodness of the Lord I came to be farther Illuminated or enlightned before I left the School And come to have a perfect sense of true judgment being set up in my heart And then I came to be filled with Sorrow and Heaviness for the loss of my mispent pretious time and the Sins of my Youth even while I was yet a youth were brought exceeding fresh into my remembrance and became in those daies my great burthen and withal in those daies my study and learning became also burthensome and not these alone but especially the wantonness and rudness folly and naughtiness of my School fellows that also became grievous unto me at times and a dread and fear was upon me when I minded the Lord that
AN ABRIDGMENT OF Eusebius Pamphilius's ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY IN TWO PARTS Part I. A Compendious Commemoration of the Remarkablest Chronologies which are Contained in that Famous History Part II. A Summary or brief Hint of the Twelve Persecutions sustained by the Antient Christians with a Compendious Paraphrase upon the same Whereunto is Added a Catalogue of the Synods and Councels which were after the days of the Apostles together with a hint of what was Decreed in the same By WILLIAM CATON Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked as saith the Proverb of the Antients 1 Sam. 24. 13. The Second Ed. with larg Editions by another hand LONDON Printed for Francis Holden in the Passage going into White-Hart-Yard in Lombard-street 1698. To his well Beloved Friends the CHRISTIAN QUAKERS In ENGLAND or else where William Caton Your dear Brother in the Truth wisheth that Mercy and Peace with every good and perfect gift necessary for your Salvation and Consolation may be plenteously multiplied among you from God the Father of our Lord Jesus-Christ My Beloved SInce I have heard of your manifold Tribulations and frequent Sufferings which of late have befallen you in your Native Country my heart hath often been filled with heaviness not only â—hrough the Report which plenteously have had thereof but much rather â—hrough the sensible feeling which I have â—ad of the same well my Friends this the day which we have looked for having foreseen its coming in the light the Lord and therefore did some of thâ—… Brethren often put you in mind of it 〈◊〉 I believe many of you can testifie Aâ—… since this gloomy and dark day came upoâ—… the Nation I know your tryals have beeâ—… sharp your burthens many your Tribulations great and your Temptations noâ—… a sew Yet Nevertheless many of our Ancestors who have striven for the same Faitâ—… and suffer for the same Truth for whicâ—… you suffer at present have endured a greâ—…ter fight of Torments Exilements and mâ—… terrible Afflictions then as yet you havâ—… sustained as may in part appear by this foâ—…lowing Treatise yet in their days the firâ—… had a time to kindle before it brok oâ—… into such a vehement and consuming flame in which many of the Antient believing Christians were tryed and their faith and patience thereby exercised and when thâ—… Lord had sufficiently proved and tryeâ—… his jewels as in a fiery Furnace then the vigor of the fire ceased the flame came to be quenched and then the jewels they were gathered spared and treasured up in thâ—… Closset of the Lord's Sanctuary where neither moth rust nor thief could in any wise enter This seems to be a day of your eternal trouble my dearly beloved wherein your Faith and Patience must be yet tryed as in a Furnace of hot persecution and surely the flames thereof have lowed and blazed already about you though as yet it doth not appear that the vehemency thereof hath so much as scorched that vesture wherewith the Lord had adorned you although the fury of man's wrath and indignation hath been greater against you that would not fall down to worship then against many Malefactors and Truce-breakers but O will not the Lord open their eyes that they may see that through the fiery indignation of their wrath and jealousie were kindled seventy times hotter than ever it hath been against any others yet shall it not be able to consume your Faith nor to burn that garment wherewith your God hath arrayed you would they but see this I know they would stand Astonished yea and fall down in submission to the power of God in the light of his Son to worship him with you O ye worshippers of the only true God who can bow to no Imagâ—… that is formed in the likeness of the true faith true worship true Religion but is it not that which it resembleth neither Conform to or obey any Decree which enjoyneth you to act contrary to the Righteous and Royal Law which God the Father hath put in your hearts neither can purchase any freedom or liberty by fraud guile Treachery falshood or deceit surely your liberty shall be glorious your reward shall be great and your Fame and Renown shall spread among the Godly and upright who when they hear of your Constancy and Fidelity will be glad and rejoyce therein and offer sacrifice of Praise unto the Highest on your behalf with me Wherefore my dearly beloved lift up the heads that droop and the hands that hang down yea strengthen the mind that is fee ble and cheer up the heart that is heavy and sad for your Redeemer is at hand and his salvation is very nigh yet not withstanding his pleasure may be farther to try you that for the future you may be more Precious in his sight and his delight may be more and more in you who above many of the Children of this world have obtained great favour in his sight O loose not loose not the same but rather grow and increase therein to the enriching of your souls with the Coelestial or heavenly Treasure which will remain when that which is uncertain is vanished and gone I have here Composed a little Treatise which Consisteth chiefly of a Cloud of witnesses who have been ingaged in the same case for which you now suffer spoyling of your goods the external Ruin of some of your families Estates the deprivation of your liberties and what not And now through perusing of the same you may behold as in a glass what the Antient Christians have suffered first by the Jews secondly by the Gentiles or heathen and finally by false Christians yet I do believe that the notion of these things to some will be but as the shell to the kernel or as the chaff to the wheat in comparison of that Internal sweet joy comfort and living refreshment which I do not doubt but that many of you plentiously injoy yea even in the heat of these troublesome and Perilous times This same Abridgment of Remarkable things which I have found upon Record I have thought good to Dedicate unto you in as much as you above many in the nation are aquainted with the Christian suffering state and condition who heretofore have been men of sorrows and well acquainted with grief as by that which followeth will more palpably and evidently appear Let not the Innocent and simple be offended at it because it is extracted out of some Ecclesiastical Histories For this I say that many Frivolous Histories which frequently are perused by such as are Prone and inclining to that wisdom and knowledge which is from below are not to be compared to this for they being oft-times Stuffed with forged fables and lying tales they stir up the vain light frothy minds in people but the perusing of this which I have here Collected will rather stir up zeal love and tenderness to the truth and such as now suffer for it as the Antient Christians heretofore have done Moreover through the viewing over
I durst not run with them to folly and wantonness as I had done before So that when they have gone to play I have retired my self into some private place to ponder upon the things which the Lord put into my heart And when with a retired mind and upright heart I came in sincerity to wait upon the Lord then came my Soul to feel some secret Communion with him and to receive some Crummes of living Refreshment from him and then was I joyful in him at night whereas formerly I had sorrow and heaviness by reason of my folly and wantonness But then again at other times when I neglected waiting upon the Lord in the Light of his Son in my heart and that I came to be entiâ—…ed by my School-fellows or some of them to go with them too or to joyn with them in or partake with them of one vanity or another And some time rather then I would displease them or one especially unto whom I was then obliged I have consenâ—…ed to their request and some time I have seemed to be cheerful and merry among them in the time of our pastime when it was more in Appearance than in my heart that being smitten and I inwardly wounded for my folly and vanity unto which I had condescended yet I allowed not of it nevertheless that which I the Light hated and would not that I that was born in sin did and â—…mbraced and even then a good desire was present with me in my heart but how to perform it knew not otherwise then through the Cross yet on these daies when I did well through keeping in the fear of the Lord then was it well with me but when I condescended to evil and was thereby overcome inwardly and outwardly then was my troubles and sorrow great and my stripes many and that in the daies of my youth but since I have seen it to be the everlasting love of God to me These things I rehearse unto you whereby you may understand how the Lord dealt with me and how it was with me while I was yet a Scholar to the end that you may somewhat the better know how to behave your selves I mean you that are tender among them that are wild and rude in Schools where you are Appointed to learn and to be instructed Moreover dear Children I have considered how that many of you are naturally Inclining to knowledge and understanding in the things which are Laudable or worthy of praise among juditious men And these things which I have here Composed being worthy not only of Recording but also of perusing I have thought them very fit for you to Learn or read at home and at Schools yea fitter then other writings which are hard to be understood and beyond your weak Childish Capacity to Comprehend for the much reading of such deep things which you can not perceive nor Comprehend doth rather dull your understanding then enliven your senses and rather mitigates your desires then kindles your inclinations to Reading and Learning But as for many of those things which I have here published they are so worthy to be looked into and the knowledge of them may be so good and profitable that after you are entred into the reading of them your desires may be augmented or enlarged not only to look over part of them but even to see the end and Conclusion of them that henceforth they may be retained by you in your minds that when you see things fall out of the same nature in this your age then you may remember hâ—…w that many of our Ancestors have suffered and sustained a great Fight of sore Afflictions And that the same you may Communicate to your Children that they also may hear of them and Learn them For Irenaeus in his Epistle to Florinus said I remember better the things of old then the Affairs of Late for the things we Learn in our Childhood sink farther into our minds and grow together with us Euseb. Lib. 5. Ch. 18. Now for your furtherance and profit O Little Children have I in part taken some what the more time in this matter that so I might explain and interpret the most hard words I met withal In this Abridgment and that as I found them that you might understand them even as you read them for I believe there are but few of the School-masters that do teach those Children that do only read English rightly to understand such hard words when they meet with them in their Lessons as you may find in this following Treatise explained And thus may you know my interpretation of them which I have Commonly written in a Parenthesis as for example Let the whole Clergy mourn i. e. Bishops Priests Deacons or the whole number of them that take upon them the Ministry Again the Antient Christians were forbidden formerly to hold Conventicles i. e. private Assemblies or meetings that are small in which there is Plotting and Conspiring against the Powers or that are for other evil ends such are commonly called Conventicles These two Letters i. e. serve for id est which is as much as to say that is likewise in the margent of the first Part of my Book you may often find Lib. and a certain figure with it as Lib. 4. know ye O Little Children that Lib. serves for Liber which by interpretation is a Book as Lib. 4. the forth Book And Ch. serves for Chapter and such as the figure is that followes Ch such is the Chapter as Lib. 4. Ch. 15. that is the fourth Book and fifteenth Chapter Moreover the use of the Index or Table is this Suppose you would know something concerning the Christians formerly whether of their Prosperity or Sufferings Then turn to the Table which I have placed in the begining of the First Part of my Book and see for the Letter C which when you have found then see in what Book or Chapter that is to be found which you desire to see And then and there with very little trouble when you come to understand my directions aright may you find the thing So that the choicest things in the first part of my book may you soon find out by the help of the Index if your time will not permit you to look through the whole Yet this ought you to note that the aforesaid Index serves only to the former part of my book in which some of the things contained in the latter part are to be found more at Large And as concerning the Twelve Persecutions which I have here inserted they are so exceeding largly Treated on in the Book of Martyrs that there are but few that will take the pains to look them through nor not many of the Vulgar or Common sort of people that will or can
and one that well remembred his Words to deliver them in writing such things as he had heard Peter preach before which thing when he had signified to Peter he neither forbad him nor commanded him to do it Iohn last of all seeing in the other Evangelists the Humanity of Christ set forth at large being intreated of his Friends and moved by the Holy Ghost wrote chiefly of his Divinity Bishops were divided about a Lay-man's Preaching Origen was intreated of the Bishops to dispute in the open Church and to expound the Holy Scripture before he was called to the Ministry Which may evidently appear by that which they wrote in defence of the fact unto Demetrius concerning him after this manner He laid this down in his Letters that there was never such a Practice heard of that there could no where the like President be found that Lay-men i. e. such as are not of the Clergy in presence of Bishops have taught in the Church We know not for what cause he reporteth a manifest untruth whenas there may be found such as in open Assemblies have taught the People yea whenas they were present Learned Men that could profit the People And moreover Holy Bishops at that time also exhorting them to Preach as several might be instanced Dionysius Bistop of Alexandria reporteth in his Epistle the Constancy of such as were Martyred at Alexandria under Decius as followeth Dionysius unto Rabius Bishop of Antioch This Persecution was not begun by the Emperour's Edict i. e. Proclamation or Decree but one whole year before For there came unto this City a certain Southsayer and Inventer of Mischief who moved and stirred up the whole Multitude of the Heathen against us and excited i. e. stirred up them to defend the Superstition of their Native Soil By whom they being thus provoked and having won to their side such as were of Power and Authority to perpetrate i. e. to commit any unlawful thing all impious Acts they perswaded themselves that the only Worship of Devils and our Slaughter was Piety i. e. Godliness it self First then they apprehended a certain Minister and commanded him to utter Blaspemy who for disobedience therein was beaten with Clubs his Face and Eyes they pricked with sharp Quills afterwards they led him forth and stoned him to death Again they brought into the Temple of Idols a Faithful Woman named Quinta and constrained her to Worship who contrarying and abhorrying their Idols had her Feet bound together and by them trailed and lugged all along the Streets which were paved with sharp Stones and withal being beaten against Mill-stones and sore scourged she was brought forth to the place and executed Which being done they all almost with one accord violently rushed into the Houses of the Religious and and the wicked led the heady multitude unto their Neighbours Houses whom they knew to be godly and well-disposed and they destroyed spoiled stole and bore away the precious Jewels but the vile the base and the wooden stuff they threw out into the Street and burned it to ashes shewing forth thereby a Resemblance or Spectacle of a City taken and ransacked by the Enemy But the Brethren took it in good Part and very cheerfully suffered they the Loss of their Goods much like unto them of whom Paul hath testified so great was the Rage of the Heathen that there was no way left for us to pass no not the common High-way nor any By passages either by day or night they cried out all and exclaimed every where there was no other choice but either to utter Blasphemy or to be drawn and burnt at a Stake But in the end this Sedition and Civil War overtook the seditious Persons themselves and turned upon them the self-same Cruely which they before had practised upon us so that for a little Season we refreshed our selves their Fury wherewith they raged against us being somewhat abated But a while after the alteration of the Imperial Scepter was made known unto us which before-time had been very favourable unto us but now threatned great Mischief to ensue And the Emperours Edict or Proclamation was proclaimed and that most dreadful Saying of our Saviour prognosticated i. e. foretold long before then took place That if it had been possible the very Elect themselves should have been offended Then did all tremble and Quake for fear some forthwith of the mightier sort fled away doubting what would befall them some of their own accord were carried away with their worldly Affairs some were perswaded by their Neighbours and being called by their Names were present at their profane and impious Sacrifices Some waxed pale and trembled not as though they would Sacrifice but like to become Sacrifices and Oblations i. e. Offerings to the Idols so that the whole Multitude derided them for they seemed manifestly to be timerous both to die and also to Sacrifice some went stoutly to their Altars and affirmed boldly that they never were Christians some other there were that held with both sides some fled and some were taken whereof divers endured Fetters and Imprisonments Othersome after long imprisonment before they came unto the Tribunal i. e. Judgment Seat renounced i. e. forsook or denied their Faith yea some denied Christ after they had endured Torments But Iulianus and Cronion who confessed and acknowledged the Lord with a sound Faith were burned to ashes in the presence of the People which compassed them round about Whenas they were brought forth a certain Souldier rebuked such as reviled them wherefore they exclaimed against him so that he was brought forth in that great Skirmish for the Christian Faith and was beheaded Dioscorus a young Man of fifteen years old with others were committed First of all the Judge took the young Man in hand with fair Speeches as though he were easie to be intreated afterwards with Torments as though he were soon terrified but he for all his perswasion would neither bow at his Flatteries or break at his Threats The rest after they had endured cruel rending and dis-jointing of their bodily Members he commanded to be burned with fire But Dioscorus he set at liberty wondring at his gracious Countenance which gave a glittering shine and the wise Answers which proceeded out of his mouth saying he would grant him longer space to repent and remember himself for his tender years sake Moreover Nemesion an Egyptian was accused of Theft whereof after he had openly purged and cleared himself before the Centursion i. e. Captain of 100 men again he was accused of Christianity wherefore he was bound and brought before the President i. e. a Ruler or Judge But the most cruel and unjust Judge delivered him among the Thieves to be twice more grievously tormented and vexed There stood before the Tribunal-Seat certain Souldiers and together with them old Theophilus who when any of the Christians came to hear the Sentence or Judgment and then was
hainous offences he should become Fortunate so that he became a deadly foe unto the Catholick i. e. Universal or General Christian Faith under which was raised the Eighth Persecution against the Christians Of Dionysius constancy and fidelity in the time of Tryaly of his Banishment and Suffering In as much saith Dionysius as it is commendable to conceal the secrecy of the King and Glorious to publish abroad the Works of God forthwith then will I shew the willfulness of Germanus a Bishop who at times Backbited Dion I came unto Aemilianus with some of the Brethren And Aemil. said not unto me specially raise no Conventicle i. e. a small Assembly commenly for Evil for this would have been Superfluous i. e. that which is too much And the last of all he having recourse unto that which was first his speech was not of making no Conventicles but that we should be no Christians at all and commanded me to cease henceforth from Christianity For he thought that if I altered mine Opinion divers others would follow me I made him answer neither unreverently nor tediously That we ought to obey God rather than Man Yea I spoke with open protestation I worshiped God which is only to be worshiped and no other neither will I be changed neither cease henceforth from being a Christian This being said he commanded us to depart to a certain Village adjoyning upon the Desert called Cephro afterwards Dionysius with others were brought forth and Aemilianus sat in the Presidents room and said I have here signified by word unto you the Clemency i. e. gentleness or mercy of our Liege and Lord the Emperours towards you They have granted you Pardon so that you turn unto that which Nature it self doth bind you unto so that you Adore i. e. Worship the Gods which guard the Empire and forget the things which Repugn i. e. Resist Nature What answer make you unto these I hope you will not Ungratefully i. e. Unthankfully refuse their Clemency insomuch as they Counsel you to the better Dionysius answered All men do not worship all Gods but several men do worship several Gods whom they think good to be worshiped But we Worship and Adore the one God the Worker of all things c. Then Aemilianus the President said What lett is there I beseech you but that naturally you adore that your God insomuch as he is a God together with these our Gods Dionysius said We Worship no other Gods To whom Aemili the President said I see you are altogether unthankful you perceive not the Clemency of the Emperour wherefore you shall not remain in this City but shall be sent into the Parts of Lybia unto a place called Cephro this place by the Commandment of the Emperour I have picked out for you It shall not be lawful for you and others to frequent Conventicles neither to have recourse as they call them unto Church-Yards If any of you be not found in that place which I have appointed for you or in any Conventicle let him under his peril There shall not want sufficient Provision depart therefore whither you are commanded So he commanded me saith Dionysius although sickly to depart with speed not deferring no not one day Afterwards he wrote thus Truly we are not absent no not from the corporal Congregation of the Lord i. e. from some that were of or belonging to the Body for saith he I gather such as are in the City as if I were present being indeed absent in the Body but present in the Spirit And there continued with us in Cephro a great Congregation partly of the Brethren which followed us from out of the City and partly of them which came out of Egypt and there God opened to me a door unto his Word that was in the place to which he was banished yet at the beginning we suffered persecution and stoning but at the length not a few of the Painims i. e. Country-men forsaking their carved Images were converted For unto such as before had not received then first of all we preached the Word of God and insomuch as therefore God had brought us among them after that the Ministry was there compleat he to wit Aemilianus removed us unto another place which was thought to be more rough I hearing we must depart from thence and knowing not the place whither we were commanded to go neither remembred I that ever afore I heard it named for all that took my Journey willingly and cheerfully Yet here I will accuse my self for at the first I fretted and took it very grievously If Places better known and more frequented had fallen unto our Lot it should never have grieved me but that Place whither I should repair was reported to be destitute of all Brotherly and Friendly Consolation subject to the troublesome Tumult of Travellers and violent Invasion i. e. assault of Thieves Moreover he relates how Germanus peradventure gloried of many Confessions and could tell a long Tale of the Afflictions which he endured But what can be repeated on our behalf Sentences of Condemnation Confiscations i. e. Forfeiture of their Goods to the Emperor or King's use Prescriptions i. e. Banishment or open sale made of their Goods spoiling of Substance deposition of Dignities i. e. deprivation of Honour no regard of worldly Glory contempt of the Praises due unto Presidents and Consuls threatning of the Adversaries the suffering of Reclamations i. e. Gainsayings Perils Persecutions Errors Griefs Anguishes and sundry Tribulations c. Yea there were Men Women young Men old Men Virgins and old Women Souldiers and simple Men of all sorts and sects of People whereof some after stripes and fire were crowned Victors i. e. Conquerors some after Sword some other in small time sufficiently tried seemed acceptable Sacrifices unto the Lord. And yet to this day said he the President ceaseth not cruelly to slay some that are brought forth to tear in pieces othersome with Torments to consume other with imprisonment and Fetters commanding that none come nigh them and enquiring daily if any such Men be attainted i. e. convicted or proved guilty of some great Crime Yet for all that GOD refresheth the Afflicted with chearfulness and frequenting of the Brethren How Persecution ceased When Valerianus's Son got the Supremacy i. e. chief Place Rule or Authority he wrote unto the Bishops as followeth The Emperor Caesar P. L. c. unto D. P. D. together with the rest of the Bishops sendeth greeting The Benefit of our gracious Pardon we command to be published throughout the whole World that they which are detained in Banishment depart the Places inhabited of Pagans i. e. Heathens For the execution whereof the Copy of this our Edict i. e. Proclamation or Decree shall be your discharge lest any go about to molest you And this which you now may lawfully put in ure i. e. use was granted by us long ago Marinus a Souldier suffered
service which pleased every man best wherefore we have decreed to Publish this EDICT wherby it may appear manifest unto all Men that it may be Lawful for them as many as will follow that opinion and Religion by this our gracious gifts and Letters Pattents i. e. Writs or Commissions from the Prince as every one listeth and is delighted so to use that Religion which him pleaseth and after his own manner to exercise the same besides this also is permited unto them that they may build places of Prayer for the Lord Last of all that this our gift may be the greater we have vouchsafed to decree that also That if any House or Mannors i. e. Farm-Houses without the walls of the Cities heretofore belonging unto the Christians Title by the Commandment of our Ancestors have passed unto the Crown either presently enjoyed by any City or otherwise sold or given to any Man for a reward all these we have Commanded they should be revoked to the Ancient rights of the Christians whereby all may have experience of our Piety and Providence in this behalf These words of the Tyrant not one year being fully past followed the Edicts or Proclamations which against the Christians were Ingraven in Pillars Afterwards he was smitten of God with a Plague from above and his Flesh wasted by an Invisible Fire so that it consumed and dropped away and lost all the fashion of the old form being become like a Painted Image dryed up of a long time his Eyes passing their bounds left him Blind at length he confessed he suffered those things justly and gave up the Ghost Foelix quem faciunt aliena pericula cantum Happy is he whom other mens harms do make to beware The Tenth BOOK OF EUSEBIUS The Heathen were glad of the Christians Success The Emperor favoured them much THE Heathen being delivered and rid of the former Mischiefs confessed diversly That the Only True God was the Defender of the godly Christians But unto us there was an unspeakable Joy saith Eusebius which with incessant Hope did depend upon Christ the Anointed of God Moreover the most Puissant i. e. Mighty Emperors by their often Constitutions i. e. Appointments published in the behalf of the Christians have amplified and enlarged the things granted to us by the free Bountifulness of God Unto the Bishops also there came favourable Letters from the Emperor Dignities were bestowed Summs of Money and Presents were sent them The Edicts of Constantine and Licinnius touching Christian Religion and the Liberty thereof Weighing with our selves said they that of old the Liberty of Religion was not to be hindred and every one had licence after his Mind and Will We have presently commanded that every one shall handle the holy Affairs at his pleasure and that the Christians shall retain their Faith of their former Opinion and wonted Service Whenas with prosperous Success we came to Milan and enquired of the things which made for the Commodity and Profit of the Commonwealth these amongst many other things seemed expedient yea before all other we purposed to decree wherein the Reverence and Service due to God is comprised i. e. contained that is to say by which we might grant unto the Christians altogether Free choice to embrace what Service and Ceremony pleased them best to the end the Divinity of the Celestial i. e. Heavenly Affairs now every where received might in some part be pleasing unto us and to all our Subjects Then according unto this our Pleasure we have decreed with sound and most right Judgment that Licence any Liberty be henceforth denied unto None at all of chusing and following the Christian Service or Religion but that this Liberty be granted unto every one to addict his Mind unto that Religion which he thinks fit for him to the end that God may grant unto us his wonted Care and Goodness And now whosoever freely and firmly is disposed to retain the Christian Religion let him do it without all molestation or grievance And because that we have granted Liberty to use their Observance and Religion if so please any It manifestly availeth for the Tranquillity i. e. ease and quietness of our Times that every one have Liberty to chuse and worship what God pleaseth him best This have we done lest ought of our Doings seem prejudicial unto any Service or Religion And because the said Christians are known not only to have enjoyed the place of their Meetings and Assemblies but also certain other peculiar i. e. proper not to every one privately but belonging by right unto their whole Society see that thou command all those according unto the Decree mentioned before to be restored unto the Christians Afterwards the Emperor summoned a Synod i. e. a General or Universal Assembly of Bishops to meet at Rome for the uniting and reconciling of the Churches for it seemed unto him very grievous that there should be found in his Provinces a multitude of People prone i. e. inclining unto the worse and disagreeing and that among Bishops there should be variance Money granted unto Ministers by the Emperor Constantine the Emperor unto Decilianus Bishop of Carthage sendeth greeting Inasmuch as it pleased us to administer something for expences sake unto some certain Ministers of the approved and most Holy Religion throughout all the Provinces of Africk I have signified unto Ursus that he should cause three thousand Poles of Silves i. e. certain Weights one contain-in 222 pounds and six ounces the other weighing 208 pence to be told unto thy Fidelity And forasmuch as I understand that some troublesom Persons were supposed to pervert by some lewd Corruption to People of the most Holy and Catholick i. e. Universal Church wherefore if thou perceive such Men to persist in their Folly without any more ado have recourse unto the Judges and make them privy thereof that they consider of these as I charged them when they were present A Copy of the Epistle by the which the Emperour freed the Bishops from paying Tax or Tribute We greet you most Honourable Anilinus Because it appeareth diversly that if the Religion wherein great estimation of Holiness is maintained be set at nought great danger will ensue to the publick Affairs And again if the same be orderly handled and maintained great Prosperity and special Felicity i. e. Happiness will follow unto the Roman Empire and the Affairs of all Men the Goodness of God exhibiting i. e. giving the same It seemed good unto us that those Men which labour in this godly Religion with due Holiness and diligent Observation of this Law shall receive Recompence of their Travels Wherefore our Pleasure is That they of the Province committed to thy charge whom we commonly term Clergy-men i. e. Bishops Deacons and Priests c. be wholly free and exempt i. e. free from any Service or payment from all publick Burthens lest by any errour or cursed swerving they be withdrawn from the
who could not bow to the Gods of the Heathen no more then the true Christians now can bow to the corrupt wills of Ambitious and unreasonable men and though the Innocent suffer therefore for the present yet for their sakes will the Lord shorten the days of the Wicked as he did the days of that Persecuting Emperour The Seventh Persecution IN the year 253. did the Seventh Persecution arise under the Emperour Decius who with Excessive Cruelty did Persecute the Christians In this Persecution several of the Bishops were put to death and such as were the chief among the Christians did they torture with many Torments and the Houses of the Christians they Plundred and that which the Plunderers did not esteem that they burned In this Persecution many suffered Martyrdom some being Burned some Beheaded Women so well as Men some being whipt to death and some Souldiers for Incouraging these Martyrs in their Suffering were put to death In this Terrible Persecution several departed from the Faith for fear of the Torments yet afterwards came to be restored again the Suffering of the Christians was great under this Emperour but his days were also shortened for he had not Raigned two years but was caught in a Whag of Mire where he met with a check or Reproof for his cruelty Note Thus it appears that the Christians that lived Godly in Christ-Iesus suffered Persecution according to what the Apostle hath said 2 Tim. 3 12. And many now that live Godly and Righteously do suffer not only the Imprisonment of their Bodies but also the Spoyling of their Goods which have been Spoyled both by Priests and People who have sometime as it were Plundred their Houses for their dishonest gain and they have shewed themselves in their carriage and behaviour to be liker unto the Heathen then the suffering Christians who suffered their Houses to be Plundred but we do not Read that they then Plundred the Houses of any but with patience suffered the Plundring of their Goods and in this patience and long Suffering are the Christians that are so not in Name only but in Nature found in these Perillous times Again have not some Souldiers been turned out of their places yea and brought into suffering for countenancing and favouring the Sober Innocent true Christians among whom some for fear of Suffering may in some respect desert the Truth as some faithless ones among the ancient Christians did yet we know certainly there are a Remnant that cannot bow their knee to Baall but would chuse rather to die the death which many ancient Christians suffered then they will forsake the Lords Truth or Transgress his Righteous Law by breaking his commands The Eighth Persecution IN the year 259. did the eighth Persecution arise under the Emperour Valerianus who put forth a Proclamation against the Christians wherein he forbad their Meetings and when this Proclamation or Order was not observed then did there follow a great Persecution of the Christians in which there was very many put to death and some were Banished and they converted of the Heathen in the place to which they were Banished but the Emperour under whom the Christians thus suffered did not go unreproved for his cruelty for he was taken Prisoner by the King of Persia who made use of him for a Foot-stool when he got up upon his Horse c. Note Hath it not happned so in England that by the Kings Proclamation the Meetings of the true Christians have been forbidden And when that they observed the Kings Proclamation no more then the antient Christians observed the Emperours hath not a great Persecution followed have not many of the Prisons he silled with them partly because they could not Swear and partly because they continved their Meetings when they were forbidden by the Kings Proclamation as the Religion of the Christians was forbidden by the Laws of the Heathen and therefore did the Heathen with much rigour pronounce these words unto the Christians Your Religion is forbidden by the Laws c. And did not Anti-christians the like when they abused them in their Meetings and broke them up with much Violence did they not also pronounce these words with much Rigour Your Meetings are forbidden by the Kings Proclamation c. And forasmuch as the true Christians now have chused rather to suffer Bonds and Imprisonment yea the spoyling of their Goods and what not then they would renounce the Faith deny their Religion or forsak the Assembling of themselves together it doth therefore appear that the same mind is found in them now which was heretofore in the antient Christians who chused rather to suffer the loss of their Lives then to forsake him for whose cause they suffered yet we see their Persecutors did not always go unreproved Oh! that other Kings Princes and Magistrates would take warning from that which happened to these Persecuting Emperours The Ninth Persecution IN the year 273. did the ninth Persecution arise under the Emperour Aurelianus but this Persecution was not so great as the other because he was cut off by death soon after he had determined the same yet in this Persecution was Felix the Bishop of Rome put to Death with several others here and there in divers places Note Often doth the Lord frustate the purposes and Determinations of such as conspire Mischief against his People yea have we not seen sundry Powers overturned in England and Parliments broken up and Councels if not Committees also shattered to pieces when they have been determined to do Wickedly so that sometime they have not had power to bring that forth which they had Conceived and brought to the Birth so mightily hath the Lord confounded their Conspiracies and brought their devices to nought and this the true Christians have concluded to be the Lords doing which they have beheld and which thing hath been indeed marvelous in their Eyes The Tenth Persecution IN the year 302. begun the Tenth Persecution which was so great that it exceeded all that had been before it not only in cruelty but in continuance for it continued 12 Years Eusebius who lived at that time Writes of it at large in his Eclesiastical History saying it was occasioned through the freedom of the Christians who were come into great Reputation and were put in places of Office to Rule in Countrys and Cities but through their prosperity and voluptuousness Brotherly Love came to decrease Haughtyness and Pride got up and in stead of the worship of God an insolent authority begun to get up in the Church of the Christians And at that time the Emperour Diocletianus gave forth a Proclamation wherein he commanded that all the Christian Churches should be pulled down and the Holy Scriptures Burned and that the Christians should be turned out of their places with other such like things After that there came another Order that they should cause the chief of of the Church to offer unto Idols or else they were to be put to
death then did they begin to Rack Torture and put to death such as resisted and some were constrained to offer This Persecution hegun as a little sparke but it spread over the whole Church and the Persecution was so hot and great that the Persecutors themselves were troubled if not wearyed In Syria there was so many of the Chritians in hold that their Prisons were filled with them and with joy they went unbound to their death Eusebius Writes how that many of the Christians had their Ears cut off and their Noses slit and other of their Members were cut off also but they who caused it to be thus done unto the Christians did not escape the Hand of the Lord For Diocletianus who had endeavoured to root out the Name of Christians did nevertheless see in his Old Age that the Christians flourished at which he was troubled and killed himself and Maximinianus another Persecutor was terribly perplexed with Pain in his Bowels and other Misery which came upon him the Hand of the Lord was heavy upon others who had Persecuted the Christians yea and some was made to confess that they had deserved the Iudgement from the Hand of the Lord. Note As the Christians were then much prejudiced by their external Prosperity and Preferment so have many Thousands been Since And it's like the most of the Sects that are yet in being among the Christians may experience somthing of this to wit that their great external liberty and Prosperity in the flesh with their Promotion and Preferment in the World hath been a great Snare unto them as it was unto the Antient Christians who afterwards felt the Chastizing hand of the Lord and if all wanton Persecuting Christians in Europe and all the World over felt the same it might I am perswaded be good for the humbling of them who have exalted themselves higher then ever the Lord exalted them and so are become Haughty and insolent the Brotherly Love being Extinguished and so have set up an Usurpation of Authority in matters of Religion concerning the Worship of God But Oh will not the Lord visit for these things will he not avenge his Soul of such Hypocritical Anti Christians who are now found Persecuting and shamefully intreating the Lambs of God with whom in those latter days Prisons have been filled and some of them have had their Ears cut off and the Lives of others have been taken away and that by professing but Persecuting Christians who have run on in their Blind Zeal in Persecuting the Innocent and Harmless Christians and sometime the remakeable hand of the Lord hath been upon their Persecutors though others have not laid it to Heart yet they that have felt it have Mourned under it and therefore true is that saying Qui ante non cavet post dolebit The Eleventh Persecution IN the year 316 did the Eleventh Persecution of the Christians arise under the Emperour Licinius who formerly had been inclining to the Christians and a favourer of them yet afterwards did he Imitate the Wickedness and Impiety of other Tyrants for he by his Injunctions gave Commandment that no Charrity should be extended to the Christians for they that shewed them favour were to be Punished like the rest In this Persecution the Bodies of some were cut in small pieces and thrown into the Sea for to feed the Fish And the flattering Presidents to gratify this Tyrant Tormented such as had done no Evil even as if they had been Murtherers but when the Emperour Constantine could bear his Wickedness no longer he made War with him and overcame him then did this Persecution cease by whose means also the Christians lived in External Peace and Tranquillity but after this Peace there ensued Wars and deadly hatred among the Christians themselves Note Many were the Tribulations of the Antient Christians during the time of these Persecutions whereof I writ howbeit it is very like that then true Brotherly Love abounded among them and that they had a perfect fellow feeling of one anothers Sufferings for their Hearts was bound up in the bond of Love while they were kept in the unity of the Faith and exercised together in the fellowship of the sufferings of the Gospel But when these profitable Chastizments ceased and that they who succeeded in the places of those Persecutors became the great Friends and Favourers of the Christians so that they thereby came to enjoy external Peace ease in the Flesh and liberty in the outward How soon then did they Entertain Prejudice and Evil surmizing one against another how then did they begin to rend and tear one another and that often about their Bishopricks an Benefects How then did they run into Sects heaps and Partys and how did they weary the Emperour their special Friend with their complaints one against another and with the perpetul strife and division that superabounded among them To demonstrate these things at large would require a greater Volum then I intend to make at this time and particularly to prescribe them would ask more time then at present I have to spend about this matter yet thus much I may avouch or boldly affirm that in those days many evils crept in among Christians which unto this day could not be totally excluded root and Branch And about that very time when the Church was thought to Flourish most of all did many hurtful Weeds and degenerat Plants took rooting which have much more thriven and grown among the Anti-Christians then the Seed of the Kingdom which Seed hath been so overgrown and overtopt that that little which yet thereof remains is as hard to be found now in the Children of Men as Faith wili be to be found upon the Earth at the coming of the Son of Man The Twelfth Persecution IN the year 362 did the Twelfth Persecution arise under the Emperour Julianus the Apostate i. e. one that revolted from true Religion who had been accounted a Christian but was an Hyprocritical dissembler and counterfeated a Monkish life who being sent into France by the Emperour to make War with the Barbarians and obtaining some notable Victories was afterwards Proclaimed Emperour by the Souldiers and then did he set wide open the Temples and Idoll groves and Sacrificed to Pictures and Intituled himself an High Priest Then the Pagans at Alexandria stomaked the Christians and that the more because they went about to disclose unto the World the Pagans Pictures to the end their fond Ceremonies might be derided of all Men Whereupon they Boyled within themselves for Anger and took what first came to their Hands set upon them and Slew of them every kind of way so that some were run through with Swords some others Brained with Clubs other some Stoned to Death some Strangled with Haltors about their Necks in the end as commonly it falleth out in such hurly-burlies they held not their Hands from their dearest Friends for one Brother sought the other Brothers Life
Isai. 56. 10. Ezech. 34. Jer. 23. And the Church being gathered into a Synod may be a Church yet not of God but of malignity Likewise they that profess the name of God may abuse their power against the Truth Yet they that do so will not say that of themselves not yet acknowledge themselves to be guilty May not every one then judge of Synods and declare their opinion concerning them X. Museulus said Concerning the Synods of Priests which the unexperienced think to be the only remedy against differences yet they are nothing else said he but Fencing-Schooles Nevertheless the complaining Church cryeth after the Synod then after the Synod will they not do that c. XI Gregorius Nazianzenus used to say that he never had seen any good end of any Counsel or Synod vide Inst. Calv. 4. lib. 9. ch 11. XII The States of Holland said to the Lords of Amsterdam This hath men heretofore observed that the reformation was not accomplished by Synods for the remedy was not to be expected from the Clergy who were the cause of the desease Anno. 1616. Mark-teeck FOrasmuch as many at this day have great expectations in their minds of peace and tranquillity together with an uniformity and settlement in Ecclesiastical affaires which they suppose might be procured through the means of a Synod or Convocation which some imagin would be a speedy remedy for their deplorable disease I have therefore thought good not only to give a brief hint of the many Synods of which I have spoken but also in short to instance the approbation and judgment of them that were accounted wiser men in their generation then the Christian-QUAKERS are accounted by this generation that if peradventer I might thereby in any wise convince them through alledging that which some that are renowned among them have affirmed even as Paul when he sought to convince the Athenians of the Lords being near unto them he instanced their own Poets who also said the same Acts 17 27 28. In like manner have I alledged the sayings of those noted men to the end that they whose expectations are to see such great things produced by Synods or Convocations may the rather be perswaded that the notable work of real Reformationâ—… and the true and perfect establishing of the Church or people of God in lasting peace and pure tranquility must be the Lord's work by his eternal power and Spirit and not by the consultations of Synodal Conversations nor yet by the Arm of flesh Far that is not the means which God chuseth but that which the sons of men have chosen in the Apostasie and therefore hath these excessive persecutions ensued of which I have made mentlon And now let England take heed how she heaps up Counsels or Convocations least she look and run more unto them for help then unto the Lord for I testifie unto her in the name of the God of the living that they shall not be able to heal her deseases nor yet to bind up her breaches Oh that she would therefore fly unto the Lord and look unto him rather then unto the Convocations or Synods of mortal men how soon would he then heal all her backslidings bind up all her breaches and with everlasting loving kindness gather her AN APENDIX UNTO THE ABRIDGMENT Whein is contained many Notable things which passed betwixt the Antient Christians and the Heathen which are extracted out of Tertullian's Apology the which he made in the Defence of the Christians against the Accusation of the Gentiles To the end that all may see how the like railing accusations which are and have of late been so frequently produced against the true Christians of this age have also been produced by the Heathen against the Antient Christians 1406. Years ago Section 1. The Heathens opinion of Christianity how they vilified them and their God how they were Judged when they denied to sacrifice and how they were condemned THE Heathen believed a man could not make profession of Christianity without being Tainted with all sorts of Crimes without beâ—…g an enemy to the Gods to Princes to the Law 's to good manners and to nature neither could a Christian at that time be acquitted unless he denied himself to be a Christian. Tert. Apol. pag 12. Are not many now of the like opinion that a man cannot be a true Christian-Quaker without being an enemy to the worship of God to the King to the Laws of the Kingdom to good manners and to nature The Heathen reproached the Christians as wiched Superstitious persons whom they accounted worthy the infamy of punishment and in conclusion objects of laughter and contempt and with much rigour did the Heathen pronounce these words unto the Christians Your Religion is forbidden by the Laws c. page 19. Are not such now become objects of laughter and contempt as cannot run with the multitude to excess of Riot and be conformable to the workers of iniquity in their vain customs and frivolous fashions which the true Christians are redeemed from and cannot be conformable unto though they therefore be accounted worthy the infamy of punishment and have it inflicted upon them by vertue of unwholesom Laws which prohibit their Liberty now as the Laws of the Heathen prohibited the true Christian Religion Such were the calumnits i. e. false accusation that were invented against the Christians Religion that upon a certain time a picture of their God was shewn by a certain infamous person who openly shewed the same with this inscription therein this is Onochoetes i. e. the God of the Christans This supposed God pretended by him had the ears of an Asse a hoof on his foot carried a book and was cloathed with a Gown page 71. Hath there not been something of the like nature acted among the Stageplayers of this age in contempt and derision of the Religion if not of the God himself of the true Christians whose profession is now reproached and vilified by infamous lewd men as the profession of the Antient Christians was by the Heathen The Christians were forbidden to have their Religion apart though none besids them were forbidden the like and because they did not serve the Gods of the Romans therefore did they offend the Romans and were accounted unworthy the name of Romans page 105. Have not many in the nation laboured and endeavoured much to have the like brought to pass concerning the true Christians who are not conformable to the national way of worship which is much rather formal then spiritual and therefore is it renounced by the true Christians who worship God in the spirit as the Antient Christians did When the Christians were injoyned to offer sacrifice they resisted Then said some there was folly in their resistance and that they might sacrifice when they were prest to it and preserve their lives without injuring their consciences in keeping a secret resolution to remain
such charitable Employments called them forth for none denied her Neighbour her care nor could any worldly Rspects discharge them from that Officiousness If any were Rich or Noble they were the readier to express their compassion and Women of the highest Descent were the forwardest to assist the Calamitous in their need for Religion had mortifi'd in them all Punctilio's of Honour and State and made them remember that in Christ they were all equal She in whose Veins the Noblest Blood did run would say of her poor distressed Nighbour she is my Sister my Fellow-member one that hath part with me in my Dear Redemer If she be antient she is my Mother said she if younger she is my Daughter nor were these expressions names of course only but they were written in their hearts and their Lips spoke what their Minds believed and these words were at once pronounced and thought Hence it was that the greatest Ladies touch'd their poorer Neighbours Sores bound up their Wounds applied Plaisters to them made their Beds and tended them as the meanest Servants Here you might see the industry of one there the sweetness and patience of another one would turn the sick Sister the other help her up the third dress her the fourth feed her and in all this the sick Creature saw as it were the Face of the Lord JESUS She that tended the Sick look'd upon Christ in her that was sick and she that was sick thought she saw Christ in the person that tended her So Divine so heavenly were their Works of Mercy that one was to the other in God's stead and that saying of Christ What you haue done unto the least of these my Brethren you have done it unto me did not depart from their Memories Thus stood the case with the Holy Women then and this advantage they reapt by their Charitable care that when their Husbands died they were taken as Deaconnesses into the Church and thus they prepared themselves for Christ and the Church's Service If any were imprisoned upon the account of Religion all that knew them would fly to them No Keeper so hard-hearted but they would find out a way to smooth him no Lock no Bar so strong but they would make a shift to break it either by their Gifts or their soft Answers not to make the Jaylers false to their Trusts but to get an oppertunity to see their Suffering Friends and when they saw them one would kiss their Chains and Fetters another lay his Lips to their Wounds a third give their bruised Members and tired Bodies such refreshment as was needful 〈◊〉 any of them were driven into Exile in every place they met with Brethren and Feliow-Christians and these would run to to them comfort them lead them into their Houses and treat them as Members of their own Family especially when by Letters from their Brethren they understood that for CHRIST his sake they were driven from their native home Were any condemned to work in Mines or Quarries the neighbouring Christians that that heard of it would presently come together help the innocent Man endeavour to make his burthen light feed him with Victuals and assist him in the performing of his Task Were any of them sent through the malice of the Heathen Governors to the Correction-house or forced to labour hard in Caves and Dens or lamentably scourg'd beaten and abused for the name of the Lord JESUS The rest that heard of it would not complain nor think their Brethren unhappy but rather count themselves so because they were not counted worthy to suffer for the Name of JESUS and therefore would wish that this might be their Lot and Portion too If the fury of Tyrants abated or remitted at any time and the imprison'd and afflicted Believers got leave to return home again some wounded some bruised some with disjoynted Bones some half Burnt some Maimed some with one Arm some with one Eye some with one Leg only their Friends would run out to them and strive who should first receive them into their Houses Happy the man that could kifs their Wounds and refresh them with Necessaries and Conveniences and the longer any Man could harbour such a Christian at his House the happier he thought himself to be And such Men as had thus suffer'd for Christ they honour'd for the future and esteem'd them equal with their Pastors and Presidents Indeed out of these they chose their Bishops thinking those fittest to serve at Christ's Altar who had already made themselves a Sacrifice for him Thus Men purchased the degree of Pastours by their Holiness and their eminent Sanctity which pressed even through Wounds and Tortures for the Name of Christ prepared them for that Function Men that were strong to suffer they justly thought might be fittest to lalabour in God's Church and they that had been such Champions for the truth they looked upon as the properest Instruments to defend it to their death Nor did their kindness extend only to their Friends but reacht even to their greatest Enemies and they that jush before were persecuted by them if their Persecutors fell fick or were afflicted or the Plague of God came upon them these injured Christians would offer their Services support them comfort them admonish them attend at their Beds side and Lend them their helping-hand cherish them supple their Sores relieve them and with a pity great and magnanimous weep over their calamitious Estate to the amazement of the Pagan World who were now ready to look upon them as Angels when but just before they thought them as bad as Devils Poverty was the least thing that troubled them nor did Want sit so heavy on their Souls as it doth on ours for they had learned to undervalue Riches and that which made them slight it were these two impressions the Apostles Doctrine had made on their Souls This sunk deep into their Hearts that here we have no Continuing City but we seek one to come That all we see here is but shadow and imagery but the substance is not yet Visible that the fashions of this World will pass away and the Gaudes and Glories below the Moon afford no real satisfaction This made it ridiculous in their eyes to snatch at a Butterfly or a Flying Feather and they rationally believe that what-ever is subject to time and change will certainly make it self Wings and flee away and leave the Soul as empty as it found it and that therefore their Thoughts must be turned another way even there where constant satisfaction lasting content permanent happiness perfect beauty and uninterrupted joys are to be found and indeed this duly weigh'd will breed a mighty contempt of Temporal things and a certain expectation of future Bliss Nor did the care of their Children fill their Hearts with anexious Thoughts for they were sensible that when-ever the Church had notice of their want they would certainly be relieved and looked after for as many Fathers and Mothers left their