504. Chrys 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To. 5. p. 515. To. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Genes p. 64. To. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Act. App. p. 856. Phot. cod 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 200. Gregory Nyssens Homilies on the Canticles imply that he preacht on that Book of the inspired Solomon every day and this appears also by more than a few passages in St. Chrysostom's Homilies in as much as it was expresly commanded all Bishops g Can. 19. by the sixth General Council that every Prelate on every day of the Week 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but especially on the Lords days should instruct both his Clergy and People by which we may judge of the Acumen of those Franciscan Fryers at Basil among the Switzers who affirmed it h Mâ—â—ch Adain Vit. Pellican p. â—92 to be a Lutheran trick to preach on any other but holy-days But this Law was not so indispensibly binding but that many days in the year wanted their Sermons only this we may aver that unless in case of great necessity the Christians had their Homilies constantly on Sundays on Festivals and their Eves throughout the whole Lent and the twelve days the Octaves of Easter and Whitsuntide and the Rogation-Week on Wednesdays and Frydays in most places and at other times frequently according to the discretion of the Prelate or the fulness of the Congregation XXIII But above all they had their Lectures of Discipline every day throughout the Lenten Fast and that not only in S h Tom. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 381. ubi supr Chrysostomes time but even in the Infancy of the Aegyptian Churches this practice was introduc'd among those Convert Jews whom i Hist lib. 2. cap. 16. Eusebius out of Philo describes who through the whole seven Weeks of Lent were imployed in Fastings Watchings and among other duties in hearing the Word of God which Custom it were to be wisht that the Protestant Churches had retain'd as well as the Romanists who have their preachings every day in that holy time the same person being obliged to continue the exercise as long as his strength shall permit him Nor had the Ancients their Sermons only for one part of the day only or but one at once but it was usual very early in some places for the †Constitute Apost lib. 2. cap. 57. Presbyters with the Bishops leave to preach each one in his turn or as many as were thought fit and then the Bishop himself closed up all with a sober and grave exhortation and sometimes if a b Gaudent Brixiens tract 14. Nyssen Tom. 1. p. 872. forreign Prelate came occasionally to a Church he was desired to preach and sometimes the same Person preacht c Aug. in Psal 86. reficite vires refecti à cibis c. nunc ad reliqua Psalmi de quo in matutino locuti sumus animum intendite Chrys 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tom. 6. p. 525. tit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. T. 5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in S. Laz. p. 229. twice a day for which sometimes that most admirable and desired Preacher S. Chrysostom was forc'd to make his Apology and free himself from the imputation of introducing a novel Custom XXIV And as the Governours of the Church took on them to appoint set times for hearing the Word of God explain'd so also they took care that every man might not be left to his own choice but that fit places might be appropriated to this duty for in those days none but the Hereticks had their separate meetings the Apostles at first preacht from * Act. 2.46 â—â— 5.42 house to house for as long as they had extraordinary assistances and no ordinary charge the whole world was every Apostles Diocess but afterward when they were fixt on setled and ordinary charges the Bishop being attended with his Deacons was the only person that preacht and for some time the converted Christians had not above one Sermon in a Diocess which the Prelate preacht in his Cathedral in the Principal place of his charge and therefore to ordain throughout every City Tit. 1.5 is the same with to ordain throughout every Church Act. 14.23 thither all the scattered Christians of the Neighbourhood resorted and when the Offices were over each man went home and instructed his Family as God enabled him as in truth all the Ordinances of the Church were celebrated in the Mother-Church only and none but the Bishop officiated therein or some other by leave from him but when the number of the Brethren encreast and a third Order of Ecclesiastical persons were instituted a Colledge of Presbyters to attend the Bishop as his Council and Assistants I suppose that not long after the date of their erection the Churches of the Mother-Cities encreasing in number the Presbyters had their several Titles confer'd on them by the Bishop that every one might know his several part of that flock which he was to instruct Hence in the Pontifical it is said that Pope Euarestus was the first that at Rome divided the Churches and Cemeteries among the Presbyters it was also very antiently practised at a Epiphan haeres 69. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. apud Sozom. hist l. 1. c. 5. Alexandria And thus it continued in the Cities some years before the Country were so well provided for the first Country Presbyter that I meet with being to be found in b Epist 28. p. 34. St. Cyprian who mentions Gajus the Presbyter or Curate of Didda and c Haeres 66. vide Ep. Episc ad Dionys c. apud Euseb lib. 7. cap. 24. Socrat. lib. 1. cap. 27. Conc. Ancyran Neo-Caes Epiphanius takes notice of Trypho the Presbyter of Diodoris a Village under Archelaus Bishop of Caschara in Mesopotamia who with his Ordinary were great Opponents of the Heretick Manes when he fled out of Persia into Romania and after this the name commonly occurs in the Councils but this excellent Custom came later into some other parts of the World than into the East and South for it was after the year 630. before this Kingdom of our Nativity was divided into Parishes and * Vid. Concil Valens Can. 4. probably after the year 400 that it was so ordered in France XXV Every person or every Clergy-man was not at first thought fit to take the cure of Souls on him none but the immediate Successors of the Apostles the Prelates of the Church who in truth discharg'd this and all other parts of the Ministerial Function till his burthen increasing the Bishop permitted some Presbyters to discharge that duty but neither durst they preach without their Ordinaries leave as we find the Apostles cautiously expecting a License from the President of the Jewish Assembly Act. 13.15 and seldom in his presence but supplyed his room when he was necessarily absent at a Synod or in time of persecution or
excellent man Enoch and Noe Abraham Isaac Jacob and the twelve Patriarchs Moses and Aaron Joshua and the Judges Samuel David and Solomon for a while Elias and Elisha and the Prophets both before the Captivity and after it and those last in order but first in eminency who lived about the time of Christ's Incarnation that Torch that preceeded the true light that Voice that usher'd in the Word that Harbinger to the great Mediator of the Old and New Covenant the Blessed John Baptist and the Disciples of Christ they lastly that after the Ascension of Jesus were Governours in the Church or were conspicuous by their Doctrine or famous by Miracles or perfected by Martyrdom among these Athanasius challenges a place some of whom he equalled to others gave the precedence and a third sort if my words be not too confident he exceeded imitating the Eloquence of one the Actions of a second the Meekness of a third and a fourth's Zeal the Combats of another many things in some in others all and in a third sort some particular Virtue As he that would limn an exquisite Picture first draws the several Features in his mind and then transcribes them into the Table which he designs a master-piece of Art so did he take Transcripts of the Virtues of others carrying away the palm from the greatest Orators by his perswasive Actions and triumphing over the most active men in his Discourses or if you would so have it excelling the most eloquent in his Harangues and the most expert men in the Charms of Conversation out-doing all that were but ordinarily furnish'd with either of these qualities in the transcendency of each peculiar accomplishment and getting the start of those that were famous for one of these Embellishments in that he was equally adorn'd with every Grace and if it were a brave and generous charity in those that preceeded him to leave such accurate patterns of Virtue is not he as admirable for his design in affording posterity so reverend an Exemplar and perhaps to run through all the particulars of his life will exceed the limits of my time and look rather like an History than an Encomium which out of compassion to Posterity I could wish were done as he hath written the Life of the divine Antonius instructing the world in the Laws of a Monastick life in the account he gives of that Saint's demeanour and when I shall have reckoned a few of the more signal of his excellencies which my memory will supply that I may gratifie my own inclinations and comport with the design of the Festival I will leave the rest to those that are better acquainted with his miraculous Atchievements For it is neither just nor safe to honour the lives of wicked men with Monuments and to bury in Oblivion the memories of the just especially in that City which more than a few virtuous Examples can hardly rescue from ruine a City which makes all sacred and divine Offices as ridiculous as the entertainments of Horse-Races or the Theatre ' His early studies were employed in Divinity and holy knowledge after some little acquaintance with humane and liberal learning lest he might be altogether an ignaro in those things which he resolved to despise for he could never endure to prostitute and debase his exalted and generous mind to impertinent trifles and spend his time like an imprudent combatant who buffets the air instead of his antagonist and so loses his crown he was conversant above all men with the Old and New Testament adorning himself with sublime notions and a beautiful conversation fastning the links till they became one gold chain a task too hard for some persons making his actions a guide to his contemplation and his contemplation a seal to his actions For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom it swaddles and suckles infant prudence and prudence when it hath out-gone the limits of fear and attained to a genuine love makes us the friends of God and sons instead of servants Such was his education and tutorage as became one design'd a Bishop and Guide to the mystical body of Christ according to the great Counsel and foreknowledge of God which long before lays the foundations of great designs and at length is admitted to the Priesthood and made a member of the College which make their approaches before God that condescends to meet and converse with holy men and is dignifyed with sacred orders and after he had past thorow all the inferior offices of the Ecclesiastick Ministration that I may omit minuter circumstances is made Patriarch of Alexandria which is the same as if I had call'd him the Universal or Oecumenical Bishop Nor can I determine whether he took the Episcopal Office on him as a reward of his virtue or as a charitable act to confer life on the Church For there was as urgent a necessity of refreshing that Church which was ready to perish by spiritual thirst the desire of truth as of the Angels bringing water to despairing Ishmael or of Elijah's being cheared by the streams of the brook Cherith and reviving that expiring Prophet that a holy seed might be left in Israel that we might not be left as Sodom and Gomorrha whose crimes are notorious but their punishment more famous being destroyed by fire and brimstone for this reason is a horn of salvation raised for us that were ruined and a corner stone that unites us both to himself and each other is opportunely laid or a fire is introduc'd that purges all evil and putrified matter or the husbandman's Vanne whereby the chaffe of empty opinions is winnowed from the weighty and substantial truths or the pruning Knife which cuts off the roots of iniquity thus in him the eternal word met with a defender and assistant and the holy spirit a servant that breaths nothing but truth and piety and on the consideration of these endowments by the joynt consent of the whole people not according to the evil custome that afterwards crept into the Church neither by murder and violence but after the Apostolical way and prescriptions of the holy Ghost is he exalted to the throne of S. Mark who was as much his successor in merit as dignity in time very remote from him but in virtue which is properly to be called Succession he came very near him For they that profess the same faith sit in the same throne but he that is heterodox hath no right to that holy seat the one is a successor in name only the other in reality for he hath not the right of succession that intrudes himself but he that is compelled to take on him the Episcopal robes not he that tramples on all laws but he that attains the Dignity by a legal election not he that is a Heretick but the Orthodox professor of the Catholick faith unless we call such a man a successor as we say a disease succeeds health and night the brightness of the day or
cut off the Bishops and that in strange Countreys to which he hurryed them that he might prostitute their Fortitude and bring down their Resolutions taking them unprovided of Necessaries and worn out with the length of their Journeys that he might render their Sufferings more severe and acute that they might dye there unknown and unpityed not as Martyrs for Religion but as great Malefactors The people of Antioch had Ignatius dyed at home would have been ravish'd with Admiration of his Bravery and with Love to his Piety when they should see that Bishop who had preach'd the Gospel so long among them now dye for it and seal that truth with his Blood which he had so often profess'd in his Discourses and God also so ordered it to enhance the worth of our Martyr's Crown that the Churches through which he journeyed might be confirm'd by his Sermons Letters and Example that by his Blood he might help to propitiate the Favours of Heaven which had been demerited by the many Idolatrous Enormities of that wicked City as also that in that publick place he might preach Piety to the World and give a Testimony of the Truth of the Resurrection of Jesus and the hopes of the Christian World that they also shall rise again to a better Life these Reasons after this Paragraph was written I found urged by the Learned e Life of Ign. Sect. 5. p. 103 104. vide Halleix Apol. pro script Ignat. c. 6. Dr. Cave to which he also adds that this was done to deterre others that all that saw him in his Travels might observe how odious this Religion was in the Eyes of so brave and accomplish'd a Prince as Trajan who was the Darling of the Empire XXXVIII This Journey to Rome was b Baron Tom. 2. an 109. p. 31. undertaken in the latter end of Summer for in August he was at Smyrna whence he writ his Epistle to the Romans and on the first of February in the ensuing year say the Latines but say the Greeks on Decemb. the 20th of the same year was Martyred of the manner and circumstances of whose departure Ado c Apud eund Tom. 2. an 110. p. 51. Martyrol â—ebr 1. Viennensis mentions many things which the Ancients are silent in as that his Shoulders were bruised with Leaden Bullets his sides torn with Hooks and sharp Stones his hands filled with fire and his sides burnt with Paper dipt in Oyle and that he was commanded to stand on hot burning Coals and his sides again torn with Hooks and sharp Shells of the truth of which Story the Cardinal much doubts but I think that ancient Martyrologist is only mistook in the place putting Rome for Antioch where probably he was so tortured as he is also out in the names of the Consuls for that year And agreeable hereunto is the Relation of the Greek d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Menaeon that this was done to subdue the invincible Courage of the Martyr before his Condemnation but when this would not produce the desired Effect that then the Emperour denounc'd the fatal Sentence against him Nor was this only the Opinion of Ado but before him of venerable Bede and before both of the Collectors of the Acts of this Saint in the Greek and Latine Manuscripts of the Bodley and Cotton Libraries as says the venerable e Ep. ad Lect. anteâ— Martyr Ignatri Primate and since them of many others XXXIX But as soon as the Martyr had begun this his tedious Journey the Persecution at Antioch ceas'd and only there as I am inclined to believe by the a Pag. 7. Acts of S. Ignatius's Martyrdom for he being at Rome takes notice of the continuation of the Persecution there which he prays God to put an end to the Emperour thinking it sufficient in such a populous City to cut off their Leader Providence so ordering it that at the same time there came Letters from Tiberianus the President of Palestine and Pliny the Proconsul of Bithynia both which the Lord b Pâ— 9. 10 Primate hath annext to the Martyrdom of our Saint which suddenly alter'd the Scene of Affairs and freed the Eastern Church of a hot Persecution only the favour could not reach Ignatius because his life was forfeited to the Law he being condemn'd before this Cessation though the Execution were respited till he came to Rome but the Blood of this holy man brought down speedy Vengeance on that City for the next year after as c To. 2. an 111. p. 55. Baronius proves not till seven years after says Johannes Malela and the most Learned d Not. in Martyr Ignat p. 5¾ Vsher a terrible Earthquake almost buryed it in its own ruines as it is elegantly described by the Historian e L. 68. in Trajano Dio. It was preceeded by horrible Thundrings and prodigious Winds and at last the Earth-quake threw down Houses buryed many in the Rubbish maimed more rooted up Trees and dryed up Rivers and on it new Springs appeared the Mountain Casius was so shaken that its top leaned as if every moment it would fall on the remainders of that wretched City Here Pedo the Consul was so bruised that the Contusion prov'd mortal and the Emperour himself had shared in the same Fate had he not been drawn out of a Window by an extraordinary piece of Providence nor would he ever afterwards reside in the City but in his Tents in the open Air. And how could Antioch but totter and become a heap of Ruines that was on the death of this good man robb'd of what propt and secur'd it that place is next door to destruction whose Angel-Guardian is forc'd to a desertion XL. In this manner did this excellent Bishop leave the World and f Act. Martyr Ignar p. 8. his bigger bones which the wild beasts had not devoured were by his Followers Philo Gaius and Agathopus that writ the Acts of his Martyrdom collected and brought to Antioch and received with much solemnity in every City which they past through and were buryed in the Coemetery a Hier. Catalâ—v Ign. before the Gate that leads to Daphne one of the Suburbs of Antioch but afterward under b Evagr. Hist l. 1. c. 16. Theodosius junior were brought in a Chariot with much pomp into the City which c Lib. 14. c. 44. Nicephorus mistook when he says they were then first brought from Rome and interr'd in a Church dedicated to his memory which before was the Temple of Fortune whence they were again transported to Rome under the Emperour Justinian as d Not. in Martyrol Decem. 17. p. 844. Baronius thinks when Antioch was sack'd and burnt by Chosroes King of Persia or rather as the reverend e Not. in Martyrol Ign. p. 50. Vsher proves circ an 640. when that City fell into the hands of the Saracens And to his memory was an eminent Festival devoted which Gregory Patriarch of that See made more
demanded a 1000 pounds of him That he had not so much in store as would serve to buy him Bread that day his best dainties being only a few Herbs a morsel of Bread and a little flat sowr Wine And when b Tom. 7. Ep. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyriaco eâ—uli p. 169. St. Chrysostome was accused of entertaining a Woman in his Chamber and lying with her he invalidates the Argument by no other Topick but this Strip me of my cloaths and you shall see all my members so mortified that that very sight will confute the calumny These severities alter'd the countenances of the Holy Men of those days and introduc'd a livid wanness and the symptomes of the Grave into their faces and expos'd them to the censures of the Infidels Lucian bringing in Critias into the Christian Assembly to see nothing but a company of men with their faces inclining to the earth and deformed with paleness nor could any thing less be expected from those that used customarily to fast ten days and spent the whole night in singing Hymns XIII And is it not hard measure that so many persons who were of the same persuasion with Tertullian both before and after him should escape censure and all the guilt of such Opinions should light on his Head only But so have we seen Clemens of Alexandria acquitted for holding the salvability of Daemons but his Scholar Origen condemn'd for the same the Millenary Opinion the belief of the whole second Century but branded for Heresie in Apollinaris and Cyprian allowed to assert re-baptization while in the Donatist it was Heterodoxy and all for want of a little Christian condescension and a generous Charity And in truth what are all Tertullians Discourses after he was so infected but Apologies for greater and more solemn acts of self-denial his Exhortatio castitatis and De Monogamia to decry the incontinence of second Marriages De fuga in persecutione to upbraid the cowardise of those that durst not die for their Master which is also the subject of his De Corona militis his Books De Jejuniis a vindication of frequent Fastings and De Pudicitia a Satyr against those that admitted Adulterers to the Communion and what more sublime demonstrations of a mortified soul though the precepts were taught in the School of Montanus XIV But I know not how to reconcile these Opinions with the practices of some of that Sect if we may believe c Apud Euseb l. 5. c. 17. Hier. Catal. v. Apollon Apollonius asserting that Prisca and Maximilla were guilty of the most profligate and unpardonable extravagancies Against this Apollonius Tertullian writ not in vindication of these excesses but to prove Montanus to be a Prophet and that his Ecstasies were Divine Vide Euseb l. 5. c. 3. for Prophecy did continue till that time in the Church of which Quadratus and after him Gregory Neo-Caesariensis are instances and S. Cyprian frequently talks of his Visions so that it was no difficult matter for one that had but little skill and insight into nature as Tertullian had to be deluded And in truth what more plausible and bold charms can we meet with than those of Montanus's she-Proselytes who so confidently pretended to enjoy those spiritual Charismata especially that of Prophecy in succession to S. John Quadratus and others of whom Prisca for I suppose Tertullian means her whom he a De Resurrect carn p. 19. D. Ed. Rhen. elsewhere stiles the Prophetess acted by the Paraclete to confute those who denied the Resurrection took on her to boast of her b Id. de anima p. 250. A. B. Revelations which on the Sunday at the publick meeting communicated themselves to her in an Ecstasy in which she assured the deluded Vulgus that she convers'd with Angels and sometimes with Christ himself that she both saw and heard Mysteries and knew the thoughts of some persons and the matter of her Visions was taken either from the Lessons or Psalms for the day from the Sermons or the Prayers which after the end of the Service when the multitude was dismiss'd she committed to the select followers of Montanus who took care to record them Tertullian while she was in one of these Ecstasies was discoursing of the nature of the Soul she returning out of her Trance tells him that she saw a Soul in that Vision not of a pure spiritual substance but thin and airy and of a bright colour and in all its lineaments of a humane form and shape This either gave rise to his Opinion or at least confirm'd him in his belief of the corporeity of the Soul c De fuga in persecut c. 9. p. 194. C. D. The like Prophecies inclin'd him to think it unlawful to fly in time of Persecution If says he you consult the dictates of the holy spirit those divine exhortations advise to embrace not to fly Martyrdome that lays its commands on men not to defire to die in their beds or by the short fits of an easie disease but by the pains of Martyrdome that he who suffer'd for us may be glorified in us that tells thee that he that is expos'd and proscrib'd in the world is in a glorious condition for he that is not proscrib'd by the World shall be proscrib'd by God Nor is he without his Vision d De Virgin veland p. 178. E. for the necessity of Virgins being vayled XV. But it is very considerable that there were many differences between this Ecstatick and the true Revelation the Writers of the Church frequently calling that of Montanus a new and unheard of way of Prophecy i. the followers of that Pseudo paraclete were acted by a violent and frantick Afflatus and their raptures discover'd themselves in furious and wild Schemes of action and not in that quiet peaceable and serene way in which the true Ecstasie made it self known the true Prophet whose impressions were made on his reason never suffering any alienation of mind to which the pretended Enthusiast was liable because his influences rise no higher than his fancy and by the extravagant motions of that and his passions introduc'd disorder and distraction into his reason Miltiades Apollonius apud Euseb lib. 5. c. 16. Epiphan haer 48. Hier. praefat in Isai alibi passim prae aliis Chrysost Tom. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in 1 Cor. 12. p. 430. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that he spake what himself understood not as the Poets describe the Pythian Priestesses rather like mad-Women than devout and religious persons * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 228. D. vide Naz. Orat 14. p. 221. Orat. 23. p. 414. Orat. 25. p. 441. the Fathers calling such pretenders to Revelation in Ecstasie the Ministers of Satan and men acted by an evil spirit in opposition to the spirit of God and in set Tractates undertaking to evince that a Prophet ought not to
it over with her Silver Wings S. Philip's Daughters were thus acted says c Hist lib. 3. c. 25. Eusebius and it lasted till the days of d Dialog cum Tryphon p. 308. S. Justin the Martyr about which time e Eus ubi supra lib. 5. c. 16. Quadratus Bishop of Athens was eminent for this gift and after him f Polycrat apud Eus l. 5. c. 23. Hier. Catal. v. Melito Melito Bishop of Sardis and g Apud Euseb lib. 5. c. 3. Irenaeus mentions a Revelation made to Attalus concerning Alcibiades But when Montanus pretended to engross this Donative and appropriate it to his Conventicle it became more rare and was bestowed only on a few persons of extraordinary qualifications men h Orig. contra Gels l. 7. that had attained to a high degree of self-denyal and mortification among whom we may reckon i Greg. Nyssen tom 2. p. 976. Phaedimus Bishop of Amasea who deputed S. Gregory the man of Miracles to his Bishoprick and S. Cyprian to whom the time and manner of his death was revealed in a Vision the miraculous influences of the holy spirit superintending the actions of those admirable men XXIV But I suppose that notwithstanding what the elder k Apud Euseb lib. 5. c. 16. Apollinaris avers that this Blessing was to last for ever in the Church and that S. l Ubi supr cap. 17. Austin says that it continued to his time that at farthest on the alteration of the state of Religion from a troubled and disturb'd to a serene and pacate scene of Affairs under Constantine this inspiration was seldom if ever conferred on any man for as to that Prophecy of S. Athanasius concerning Julian Nebecula est pertransibit that the Cloud would suddenly blow over and many others of antient and later times they are only the sage conjectures of an observing and prudent Experimenter who having read how the world hath been heretofore managed and in his own time remarked the revolutions of Affairs draws Conclusions strongly probable what will succeed from the same or the like premisses And it is observable that in such predictions as in the old Oracles what hath fallen out right hath had the good luck to be Chronicled when a thousand other such Essays that have not answer'd expectation have been buried in Oblivion So that Tully in his Epistles ad Atticum fore-telling the Miseries of the Civil War may on the same grounds be styled a Prophet and if such productions of a discreet and well-practis'd observer must presently commence Oracle this were giving up the Cause to the Church of Rome who to this day plead a right to this dispensation and in truth to every bold Enthusiast and pretender to Revelation but the Church of Rome may not boast of her Prophecies since their authoriz'd Saints contradict each other in the account of their Visions S. Bridget pretending a particular Revelation that the Virgin Mary was conceived in Original sin S. Katherine of Siena pleading Revelation to the contrary but were Prophecy yet continued to the Church it is no unquestionable Authority to broach new Doctrines a Vide Theodoret in loc Deut. 13.1 2. and S. b Contr. Faust Manichae lib. 4. c. 2. Austin's Character of the Patriarchs is the best way of judging concerning this excellent endowment That a life according to the Laws of the Prophets is preferrable to a Tongue tip'd with such Seraphick Discourses Illorum hominum non tantum lingua sed vita prophetica fuit c Chrys To. 2. hom 24. in Matth. p. 172. For Pharaoh had his Dreams Nebuchadnezzar his Visions and Balaam his Spirit of Prophecy while these Communications from Heaven were so far from alleviating that they aggravated both their Crimes and Torments XXV To dispossess Satan was the design of the Son of God and when he had conquered the main Body he left the subduing the dispers'd and routed Troops to his Followers who got signal Victories over the baffled and affronted powers of the Kingdom of Darkness and erected their Trophies over Satan not only in the days of d Apol. 1. Dial. cum Tryph. p. 247. Justin Martyr and e Lib. 2. c. 56 57. Irenaeus of f Apol. c. 23. c. 37. ad Scapul c. 3. Tertullian and g Octav. p. 90 92. Minut. Foelix but in the days of h Contr. Cels l. 2. Origen i Nyss to 2. p. 998 999. Gregory Thaumaturgus k Ep. 2. p. 6. S. Cyprian and l Lib. 2. cap. 16. Lactantius those unclean guests being driven out of their Habitations by the Prayers of the devout Exorcist and though the Gentiles dreaded being possest their Daemons equally dreaded the Christians with whose words they being tormented as a Malefactor is with a Whip did not only confess themselves to be evil Spirits but gave an account of their names and for such Cures were the Servants of Jesus sought unto even by their Enemies and Persecutors So M. Aurelius Antoninus courted Abercius the Bishop of Hierapolis to dispossess his Daughter Lucilla who had been betroathed to Lucius Verus his Collegue in the Empire and the holy man undertook and accomplish'd it And though the truth of that story be by some doubted yet it seems to me to carry with it its own credentials and a To. 2. an 163. p. 15 0 1. Baronius hath fully evinc'd it XXVI But I suppose that as soon as the great Enemy of Christianitie's Interests so sensibly decayed as they did under Constantine when his Oracles ceas'd and his Temples were defac'd when he was no longer fed with the steams of slain Beasts and the fumes of Incense then also this power ceas'd in the Church of God though b De Civit. D. l. 22. c. 8. S. Austin avers that it continued till his time 'T is true the term Exorcist continued and had a place in after Ages among the names of the Church-Officers but then it was only aequivalent to Catecheist the ancient Exorcists both instructing the Catechumens and superintending the Daemoniacs which being an employment that the Church could not want succeeded to the whole title on the expiring of that miraculous power for to believe that the present charms of the Romanists succeed to the practices of the Ancients I must first be induced to credit their Legends and believe that an Amulet shall keep me shot-free or cure a Fever But such Tricks find a livelihood for their wandring and irregular Priests and that gives them some credit but neither is this such a great mark of God's favour or a true Church if it were yet continued for c Chrys ubi supr p. 171. Judas had power given him to cast out Devils and yet himself was one XXVII That the anointing the desperately sick with Oyle was also a speciaâ— influence of the holy Spirit is uncontroleably asserted in that story of the Emperour d Tert. ad
next Afflictions but in the end was smitten in his body with an uncurable frightful disease and to make his griefs insufferable must endure the bitter and wretched Consolations of his Wife whose great business it was to wound his Soul proportionable to the Inflictions of his Body moreover his best Friends were as he says miserable Comforters who when they saw his griefs but understood not the mystery of Providence thought his punishment not a Tryal of his Virtue but Vengeance on his Crimes and this they not only thought but never blush'd openly and severely to reprove him for it ' and that so unseasonably that had he been plagued for his Offences there was more need to smooth and alleviate his sadnesses by comfortable Discourses In this condition was Job and these were some of the first Dispensations of Providence towards him there was a Combate between Virtue and Envy the evil spirit striving to overcome all that was good in him and his Piety exerting it self to preserve its Rights inviolable Satan endeavouring to smooth the way to Vice by the punishments of the just Virtue that its Followers might retain their Integrity and triumph over their Calamities But what all this while did he that gave him Oracles from the whirl-wind and the Clouds who is slow to wrath but earnest to be compassionate who does not suffer the rod of the Wicked always to rest on the lot of the Righteous lest the Righteous learn Iniquity In the end of his Engagements God with a loud Voice pronounces him a Conquerour and discloses the Mystery of his Chastisement Thinkest thou O my Servant that I had any other intentions than that thy Righteousness should be made manifest This is a Plaister for thy Wounds a Crown for thy Combats a Recompence for thy Patience For what followed was perhaps inconsiderable though they seem great Blessings to some and design'd to satisfie the Ambition of men of narrow Souls when he received double for whatsoever he had lost Nor is it therefore so very wonderful that George the Usurper should fare better than Athanasius But this would have been a greater miracle if this good and just man had never been tryed in this fire of afflictions nor is this so prodigious had not his tryals been of so long a continuance he went into banishment from this place and ordered the affairs of his exile with an admirable decorum for he confin'd himself to the godly Monasteries of Aegypt where the holy men weaning themselves from the world and falling in love with a desart enjoy a more intimate familiarity with God than those that are turmoiled with the affairs of this life some turning Hermits living remote from all Society and conversing only with themselves and God and claiming acquaintance with no other part of the habitable world but their cell others living in charitable fraternities are both Anchorets and Fryars dead to all other men and concernments which in the midst of the world both create and suffer disturbances and by their often changings cheat and trepan us while their Monastery is the world to them in which they provoke each other to virtue by a holy emulation With these good souls this great person conversing as he was the great Mediator and Reconciler of all other Controversies imitating him that by his blood made peace and united those that were opposite so he reconciled the solitary life with the sociable manifesting that the Priesthood was a friend to true Philosophy and that the study of wisdom wanted the inspection of the Prelate So he harmoniously cemented both sorts of life coupling a contemplative activeness with practical meditations to perswade men that a Monastick life doth more consist in the gravity of mens manners than the retirements of the outward man Of which opinion was David that man of great Employments yet much a lover of solitude if the assertion of his be demonstrative and credible ††Ps 141.10 sec Sepâ—â—ag 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I live retired until the day I must go hence For this reason they that excelled others in virtue were so much the easier conquered by his reasons by how much they out-went others and they that contributed a few ordinary endowments to fit them for the perfection of the Priesthood were recompenc'd with greater abilities to make accomplisht Monks What he advised them became a Law what he forbad them was execrable his assertions were like the Tables of Moses and the reverence paid him greater than what is due to the Saints For when some rude Villains hunted after this holy man as after a wild beast and could no where find him these Asceticks would not vouchsafe to speak to them but stretched out their necks to the Souldiers Swords as if they were in jeopardy for the sake of Christ reckoning if they could suffer any thing for the preservation of so good a man that it would be of great weight to beautifie their Philosophick Profession and more sublime and extraordinary than all their fasts and humicubations and other acts of mortification which were their delicacies Among these men did our Patriarch lead his life and experimented the truth of that passage of Solomon that every thing hath its season for this reason he conceal'd himself for a while as one that fled from the face of an Enemy and a furious War that he might appear with the greater splendour in the season of peace which a little afterward happened but the factious Pseudo-Patriarch by reason of this long retirement of Athanasius runs through all Egypt and acted by the violences of his impious mind makes his thievish Incursions into Syria and ravages as much of the East as was possible setting upon the infirm and weaker brethren the inconsiderate and the dull as a torrent carries with it all that it can sweep away imposing upon the simplicity of the Emperour for my reverence for his sacred Character forbids me to call it levity for to say the truth he was very zealous but not according to knowledge he next purchases the favours of the Courtiers men that loved money beyond Christ for the Goods of the poor were his bank and treasure imployed to wicked and unlawful purposes and among them the effeminate and the Eunuchs men that are no men whose Sex is doubtful but profligate manners most notorious who being deputed primarily to the oversight and custody of Women it is a wonder to me how the Roman Emperours ever concerned them in any masculine Employments So prevalent was this Servant of the Devil this Seedsman of Tares this Harbinger of Antichrist employing for this purpose the tongue of the most eloquent of the Bishops of that time if I may so call him who was not so much an Heretick as an envious and ambitious man for I shall willingly conceal his name but he stood instead of the hand and was the Leader of the Faction seeking the overthrow of the truth by the prevalence of his money
and render it to the eyes of all men exquisitely accomplish'd but this was one of the meanest of his admirable Atchievements for if he exposed himself to actual dangers for the sake of the truth what wonder was it that he should vindicate it in his writings But I will add one thing to my former Relation which I above all things revere in him and which I cannot without injuring you pass by at this time especially which is a time of Schisms and Contentions for this action of his ought to be an instruction to us that now are alive if we seriously weigh it for as when one thrusts his hand into the water he not only separates between the water that is left but between what he grasps in his hands and runs between his fingers So we divide not only from all impiety but from the eminently godly not in small and impertinent and contemptible opinions for this were more tolerable but in words that tend to one and the same sense for whereas we piously assert one essence and three hypostases the one describing the nature of the Godhead the other the properties of the Trinity as also do the Italians only by reason of the barrenness of their language not able to distinguish the hypostasis from the essence lest they might seem to admit three substances they substitute in the name of three hypostases three persons what happened something very ridiculous or rather lamentable This little difference in words made a noise as if there had been difference in opinion hence the Heresie of Sabellius took its rise because of the distinction of the three persons and Arianisme because of the three hypostases both being the rude off-spring of a pertinacious love of contention And what succeeded this small distinction being establish'd and grating on some mens minds and what made it distasteful was a love of quarelling the ends of the earth were in danger to be ruin'd by a few syllables which when this bless'd Saint this true man of God and great guide of souls both saw and heard he could not endure to slight and neglect so absurd and unreasonable a distinction but applyed a remedy to the distemper and how did he make his application having convened both parties with all meekness and humility and accurately weighed the intention of the words after he found them agreeing in the things themselves and not in the least differing in matters of doctrine allowing them the variety of names he tyed them to unity of sentiments this was a more advantagious act of charity to the Church than all his other daily labours and discourses which all men celebrate in which there may be intermixt some love of applause and for that reason some innovation made in the Faith This was more honorable than all his watchings and humicubations the benefits of which are confined to the particular practisers of those virtues nay it is nothing inferior to his applauded flights and exiles for after his sufferings he pursued those things for which he chose to undertake such calamities and this also was his design on others praising some moderately correcting others useing the spur to some dull tempers and the reins to other hot spirits infinitely careful that the offenders might repent and those that were innocent might be kept from falling in his conversation master of the greatest simplicity in his government of the greatest variety of skill wise in his discourses but much wiser in his intellect to the mean capacities he stoop'd himself to the more acute his notions and words were more sublime * * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A lover of strangers and advocate for the oppressed and a defender from danger he was in truth all those things which the Heathens parcel out among their Gods I will call him * * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. the Patron of Marriage and the Friend of Virgins the Peace-maker and Reconciler and the guide to those who are going out of this life How many brave characters and qualities does the virtue of this Man afford me should I describe all when he had so lived was so instructed and so carefully had disciplined others that his life and demeanor was an exact pattern how a Bishop should have his conversation and his opinions the rule of Orthodoxy what reward did he reap of this piety for neither is this negligently to be past by he dies in a good old age and is gathered to his Fathers the Patriarchs and Prophets and Martyrs that combated for the truth and that I may give him a short Epitaph his Exit out of the World was more honorable and decorous than his return into his City from Banishment his Death was attended with an Universal Mourning and the thoughts that all men entertain'd themselves with of his worth out-went all that may be seen But thou O beloved and happy Man who among thy many other virtues didst exquisitely understand the seasons and measures of Speech and Silence do thou here put a period to my Oration which though it fall short of the truth and thy worth is yet proportionable to my weak abilities and look down propitiously on us from above and guide this people that are perfect adorers of the perfect Trinity which is contemplated and worship'd in the Father Son and holy Spirit protect me and help feed my Flock if peaceable and serene days attend me but if War and confusion reduce and assume me to a station with thy self and those that are like thee though it be no ordinary thing that I beg for the sake of Christ our Lord to whom be all glory honor and dominion for ever Amen THE LIFE OF S. Hilary OF POICTIERS I. IT is Mr. H.'s usual unhappiness in this his View to contradict himself while with more diligence than judgment he hath collected whatever scattered Memoires had relation to his subject without that severe examination that became an Historian whether all the particulars were reconcileable to the laws of time and truth Of this we have a pregnant instance in § 1. p. 396. where out of a Chronic. part 2 c. 3. p. 54. Antoninus we are entertain'd with a pleasant story of an Imaginary Council at Rome under a Pope Leo that never was which he that list may read at large in that Historian Who having recited the particulars out of Vincentius his Speculum and Jacobus de Voragine acknowledges them to be dubious and are indeed no way reconcileable to truth unless we create an Antipope at that time called Leo or assert that Pope Liberius had two names whereof one was Leo both which are equally improbable for there is not a word to this purpose in the antient Church-Historians who are so copious in their accounts of the Arian Synods no not in Philostorgius their own Historian who not caring to falsifie the Records of the Catholick Church would certainly never have stifled so remarkable a transaction had there been but the least
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