that does the injury is insolent with so debonaire and meek carriage did he demean himself towards the great fomenters of his sorrows that his restoration was not unacceptable even to them He purges the Temple by driving out all Sacrilegious Abusers of Religion that prostituted the name of God and Christ to their profit that in this also he might imitate his Saviour only he omitted the whip of Cords and substituted in the place thereof Perswasives and Demonstrations He cements all breaches among those that were at enmity with him or among themselves needing no other assistances but his own he delivers the afflicted from Tyranny making no distinction between them of his own and the adverse party He lifts out of the dust and restores to its honour the truth that had been trampled on and now the Doctrine of the Trinity is boldly asserted and the light is set on a Candlestick that by the bright rays of the Unity of the Godhead it might illuminate all mens Souls now he again makes Laws for the World and enclines all mens minds to himself writing to some calling others and instructing a third sort that were never sent for obliging no man to any other restraint but to be willing for this one thing was sufficient to direct them to the Paths of Virtue In short he imitated the qualities of two famous stones to those that abused him he was an Adamant to the contentious and quarrelsome a Loadstone which by a miraculous quality draws Iron the hardest of things to its self but it was impossible that envy should endure this or suffer tamely the restitution of the Church to her pristine beauty and health the dissenting Members thereof being reunited as the Wounds of a Body that hath been mangled are closed up again To this end the Father of malice incensed against him the Emperour who was the Fiend's Fellow Apostate who though his junior in time was his equal in mischief the first of all Christian Princes that was inraged against Christ suddenly introducing that wicked Cockatrice which long before had been brought forth and cherish'd by him as soon as a fit opportunity offered and he was invested with the Empire became ungrateful to that Soveraign that intrusted him with the Regalia and abundantly more rebellious against God his Saviour and begins a persecution more fatal than all that had preceeded it intermixing perswasives with his threats for he envyed the Martyrs the honour of their sufferings called in question the Trophies of their courage using all sort of Sophistry and little arts in his Discourses and allowing them to superintend his manners or to speak a plainer truth being inclined by his own perverse habit of mind to such Villanies imitating the cunning and artifice of that Demon that possest him he accounted it but a poor Conquest to triumph over the whole Family of Christ but look'd on the subduing Athanasius and stifling his undertakings in the behalf of the truth as a great Victory for he saw that none of his Designs against the Christians were crowned with success as long as Athanasius opposed him for the places of as many as deserted Religion were supplyed by his prudence with new Gentile Proselytes which was very miraculous Which when that crafty Impostor and Persecutor understood he no longer keeps on his Masque of servile dissimulation but making publick his rancor openly expels this great man the City for it became this generous Combatant to be thrice Victorious that his rewards might be perfect a small time after the Divine Justice hurryed this sacrilegious person into Persia and there punish'd him and having permitted him to go forth a Prince eagerly ambitious of renown return'd him dead without the least sign of pity or sorrow and as I have heard without the honour of Sepulture his body being toss'd up and down by the fury of an Earthquake that then happened as a punishment for his Crimes the Prologue as I suppose to his future Tragedy but another Emperour succeeds him of a modest Countenance and a stranger to the Apostates Impudence one that never opprest Israel by his own or his Followers evil Actions but was incomparably pious and mild who that he might settle his Empire on the best Foundation and begin his Raign with the establishing excellent Laws recalls all the banish'd Prelates and above all him that out-shone them in Virtue and undoubtedly was a Sufferer for Godliness he enquires after the true and Orthodox Faith that had been by many torn in pieces and mangled and distracted into many novel Opinions that if it were possible the whole World might be united in the same harmonious profession by the cooperation of the holy spirit if not he might joyn himself to the Catholick Party and reciprocally give it assistance and receive help from it entertaining himself with high and exceeding venerable thoughts of such Mysteries And here did this Sage-man give a Specimen of his purity and constancy in the Faith of Christ for whereas other Professors were divided into three several Factions many being Unorthodox in their Sentiments of the Son of God and more in their Opinions of the holy Ghost where to be a puny Transgressor was accounted a mark of Piety and only a few were in every thing sound Catholicks he chiefly and alone or with a few Followers openly and in the Face of the World is a confident Assertor of the truth confessing in his Writings the Divinity and Essence of the three persons and in that God head which in times past was by the many Fathers adjusted to the Son was the holy spirit reinvested by this inspired Patriarch who tendred a truly royal and magnificent present to the Emperour an Orthodox Creed in opposition to the Heretical Novelties that had no basis in Scripture that one Emperour might countermine another one Doctrine invalidate another one Writing supersede another to this Confession of Faith both the Eastern and Western Catholicks seem to me to pay a submissive deference and veneration for some men if we may believe their Affirmations are Orthodox only in their minds but they imprison their Sentiments and conceal them from the view of the World as a dead Child that hath lost its life in the Womb others in a small measure manifest their belief like the blaze of a Spark that they may humour the time and please the warmer and devouter sort of Christians others are publick Assertors of the truth and not ashamed of their profession of which Party I am willing to be for I dare not boast of any thing higher than this not so much as intending to skreen my fearfulness behind the weakness of those that have been more timerous for we have been evil Stewards of Heavens Mysteries not only not gaining some additional increase to our Talents but prodigally melting down our first stock which is the Character of a careless Servant but to introduce this my off-spring into the light to mature its growth with speed
in their Shapes and Colours is troubled about the first that he sees and then about the second every thing that he looks on requiring him to fasten his Eyes there So is it with us that enter into the spiritual Garden of the Archievements of Ignatius where we see not the fading Flowers of the Spring but variety of the Fruits of the holy Spirit in this great mans soul that we are perplext and full of doubtings not being assurâ—d to which we should incline our thoughts every particular thing which we have seen in this excellent person withdrawing us from the consideration of any other of his Vertues and using a pleasant violence to the Eyes of the soul to engage them to look only on its peculiar beauties For behold he govern'd this Church among us generously and with the same exactness that Christ requires for what that great Bishop of souls made the chiefest Maxime and Canon of Episcopal Regiment that did he demonstrate in his actions and hearing Christ say a a Joh. 11.14 that the good Shepherd lays down his life for the Sheep with a great deal of courage he offered his for his Flock he truly converst with the Apostles and by their Ministry was baptized What an excellent man then must we needs think him to be who was brought up with them and lived in their company and was made a partaker both of their b b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 common and mystical discourses and was by them thought worthy of this Government Again the time is at hand that requires fortitude and a soul that overlooks all present things burning with the divine love and preferring things that are not seen to those that do appear And with the same ease he divested himself of mortality as a man puts off his Cloaths What therefore shall I first treat of his proficiency in Learning under the Apostles which appeared in all his actions or his scorn of this present life or his exact vertue with which he managed the Government of his Church which shall we first praise the Martyr or the Bishop or the Apostle For the holy Spirit 's liberality having wove it in this manner put on his holy head this triple or rather this manifold Crown for if any one should accurately unfold every one of these Chaplets he shall find new Coronets budding out to us ' But with your favour we will first enter on the praise of his Episcopal Authority nor doth this seem only to be one Crown Let us therefore unfold it in our Discourse and you shall see two three or more arising out of it For I do not only admire this man that he was thought worthy of such a Dignity but that he was ordained to it by those holy persons and that the hands of the blest Apostles were laid on his sacred head this is greatly conducive to his praise not because more Excellencies did accompany this Grace from above nor only because they procured a more abundant efficacy of the Spirit to descend on him but because they bore witness to all those vertues in him which could be in a man And how this comes to pass I will describe S. Paul writing to Titus and when I name Paul I do not only speak of him but of Peter and James and John and the whole College of Apostles for as in a ††〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lute the Strings are diflerent but one harmony so in this Quire of Apostles the persons are divers but the Doctrine the same because they had the same Master the holy Spirit that made the impulse on their souls and this S. Paul means 1 Cor. 15.11 when he says Whether it be they or I so we preach this same Apostle therefore writing to Titus Th. 1.7 c. and shewing what manner of person a Bishop ought to be saith A Bishop must be blameless as the Steward of God not self-willed not apt to be angry not given to Wine no striker not covetous but a lover of hospitality a lover of good things sober just holy temperate holding fast the faithful Word which he hath been taught that he may be able to exhort others by sound Doctrine and to reprove Contradictors And writing to Timothy about the same matter he thus speaks 1 Tim. â— He that desires a Bishoprick desires a good work a Bishop therefore must be blameless the Husband of Wife watchful sober modest a lover of Hâ— spitality able to teach Seest thou what eminâ—nt Vertues he requireth in a Bishop For as an excellent Painter tempering divers Colours being ready to draw the exact Form of a King sets about his work with all imaginable accuracy that all persons that would imitate and transcribe it might have an exact Pattern So the blessed Paul as if he were drawing a Prince's Picture and adorning such an Exemplar mixing the several Colours of Vertue hath delineated to us the perfect Characters of Episcopacy that every one that attains to this honour looking on this Image might order all things belonging to himself with the like circumspection I will therefore speak it boldly that the blessed Ignatius had accurately imprinted all this Vertue on his Soul being innocent and blameless neither morose nor angry nor a Drunkard nor a Quarreller but without any love of Contention or love of Money being just holy temperate and holding fast the faithful word of Doctrine being watchful sober and modest and Master of all the other Vertues that S. Paul requires And what proof of this say some the same persons that spoke these things ordained him nor could those that with so much exactness advise others to make tryal of them that should ascend to the Episcopal Throne themselves perfunctorily do this act for unless they had seen all these Vertues planted in the Soul of this Martyr they would never have ordain'd him to the managery of this Dignity for they certainly knew what danger threatned those that made such Ordinations slightly and as it might happen And this also doth the same S. Paul again show writing to the same Timothy bidding him a a 1 Tim. 6.32 Lay hands suddenly on no man nor partake of other mens sins What sayest thou Hath another man sinned and do I partake of his Crime and his Punishments Yes truly he that adds Authority to Wickedness even as when one puts a Sword into the hands of a Mad-man whatsoever Murder the Frantick person shall do he that gave the Sword shall answer the Crime So if any should confer the Power that ariseth from this Dignity on a man that lives wickedly he pulls down all the Fire of his wicked and bold undertakings on his own head for he that gives the root is without doubt the cause of all things that spring from it Dost thou see how this double Crown of his Episcopacy hath hitherto appeared and that the eminency of those that ordain'd him hath added lustre to his dignity while
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