C C t f t C f 4

t « « C C i « € « 41 « « « * i « • * .•^i

r 1 « % M -< -« i « 4 '4 1 4 m m -^ "4 ^4 :i^i Vtjnttjt

^«^

jr»

ilK

»%MJ',J%J%/

mtyfc

-^PliL'. ,^te

^m^' ^^1
*: , A^

'15..:

f^ r

.*.., ^^'

%im^--"^m

irifc t ii>

speciAL coLLecxriONS

tDOUQlAS LibKARy

queeN's UNiveusiT^y

AT kiNQSXION

kiNQSTON ONTARIO CANADA

THE

S P I R I T

OF THE

ECCLESIASTICKS

OfaUSeftsand Ages,

As to the

Docfriiies of Morality,

And more particularly the Spirit of the Ancient Fathers of the Church,

EXAMINED,

By Monf. Bakbeyj^ac^ ProfefTor of Laws and Hiftory in i\\t\Jmwtx^\\.y c^ Laufanne,

Trajtjlated from the French by aGEHTtHM AH of Gray'i-Inn.

W I T H A

•

PREFACE by the Author of the In dependent AVhig,

to ND 0 N : Printed for J. ?ttU at Loch\ Head in Pater'7wjfer Row. 1722. Price One Shilling.

Ae^ <: . rW'^ ^-'^

mk^'^f^^'^^

THE

P R E F A C E.

HE foUowhg Pjpers are a Trcnijlatwn of Fart of Mr. Barbeyrac s Preface to his TravJlatio7i of PufFendorfs Ti eatife of the

Law of Nature and Nations, htto

French, avd fully Jliew, in a Jmall Compap^ the Spirit avd Pints of the Fathers of the P; imitive Church, fo much extolfd^ and fa little defeiving it.

The Reading of the Fathers, and an Acquain' tavce with the Fathers^ has made a great Noije in the World, as a tnovie^itovs Study, entitling the Pro- ficients in it tu a high CharaBer and the Reputa- tion oj Learning. Few People had Leifure to leai thetn, avd fencer would take the Pains, and now I thivk vwjl Men agree that the Pains are not worth taking :, and he vho employs hif Time that V^ay, whatever Indujhy he may have, is neither envied for his tafie. nor admird for his Acquirements, ww- lefs ly thofe wh-^fe Applavfe Men of Genius are. not fond of. The: e is not much Glory to he got f« an Employment where, to excel in it, noth'.ng is reqvird hut great Drudge) y J emijient Patience, andnoTaJle, or

A 2 a wrong

The PREFACE.

a wrong one. A Clown may exult and fwagget; becaiife he is an accotnpUJJid Plovglmian •, but I would rather he Jhould have the Renown than I •, though a good Vloughman is a good Chata&er in a Comitiy, and, in fame Injiances, a drudging Pedajit, who is the Plough- man iw the Learned JVorld^ is likewife a ufeful Chji- raBer. It might be, however^ wijJ)d, that they would pre- ferve the Dijlance and Humility of Ploughmen^ and ■not value themfelves fo much upon meer Swcjt and

As to the Fathers, there is fo little to be learn d from them, that they who know much of them, are only ejleemd by fuch as know little of any Thing. i^or was thei'e ever any Thing more ivfolent and dif- honeji than to refer us for the Knowledge of the Scriptures to the Fathers, who were fo very ignorant of them, that they almojl conJLmtly underjlood them in every Senfe, but the true Serije. They have fuch an Appetite for Vijion, Alyjlery, and Olfcm ity. that in the plainest Texts th'y jind Difficulty, Darknejs, Allv.- Jion, and Enigmas \ avd explain obvious Pajfages jufl as they do doubtful ones, by far fetchd and 7ny/}erious Gucjfes, and Aleaning<:, which contradict cdnmov Serfe, and which "none that had it wtndd have thought of. A xdciin and natural Aleanivg which every Body coidd fee., would votferve tbeirTmn, but they mv.JJ extott a Meaning, and fo have the Glory of the Dijove.y., and their Thoughts like their Language were foic'd and bombafi. And to thefe Men. who made the Jf'ord oj God of nove effect, by darkning his pbinejf Pre- cepts with falfeGlofje^ and Figures, we a) e fent for In- fintBion in that l^ot d.

Whoever has feen Solomon's Temple Allegorized by John Bunyan, may fnd there a Specimen of the Safiacity avd Abilities oj the Feathers in explaining of

Scriptw e

The PREFACE.

So ipture. According to John there was not a Ku'ii In that Temple, but had its Typical Purpofe, and evoy Bafov^ and Pair oj Tongs prefgiird Jome great Mype,) to come -^ and, in JJwty eveiy Stone and every Tool in the Temple piophejied. And in all this the poor pious linker did but tread in the Steps of the Fathej J, without hicwivg it. As he had much more honejly, and a more quiet and henepctnt Spirit than any of toem i fo he had ^s much Invention and was full as equal to the Bufvefs oj Allegory as the bejl of them, and his Fancy ivas not mo) e heated than theirs ^ ani whoever reads his Pilgrims Progrefs 7ieed only fiip- pofe hi7nfelf uading f/T!e of the brightejl Fathers in £nglilh •, and he will make them no ill Complement j for his Imagination, which was a voy ^ocd one, wai leallymoje jugular and corre^ than theirs. I have vjten thought the Koficrucians a Sort ofAlodernFathers-^ only they are 7nore Jublime in their Reveries : They deal alike in the fame Puffry, falfe Rhetoi ick, and their Imagijtattons arc alike infain d and extravagant.

It is irrational and impious to fuppofe that Almighty God, the good, the merciful God, would give to his Creatures hiJiruBions, Commands, ani Advices, which were puzzling, ohfcure, or uncertain, when their Eter- nal Salvation was dependi^ig upon their conceiving ani applying them aright. Ani yet thefc Fathers fuppofe all this, in fetching from his Word Inferences and Meanings, which upon reading it feem as diffeient fotn it as any one Language is from another. It is but Juftice to the Omnipotent Being to believe that he d^eaks candidly and ivtcUigibly to his Creatures, ani to all his Creatures, whenever he (peaks to them at ail : But this Jujlice the Fathers deny him, when they make him thus fay one Thing, ani mean ano- ther.

And

The PREFACE.

And m more is it to be fiippos*d, that the Father of Aiercies would cruelly impofe upon jis, an ijnpojfible Thing for a Duty ^ / mean ihat of agreeing mth the Fathers^ who jjever agreed with one another^ nor in- deed with themfelves. No People upon the Eai th^ ever differ d more ^jio^ not their SiiccejJ'ors) nor proceeded to gi eater Fury and Bittemefs in their Diffeiences. They were conjfavtly quarrelling about the jmallejl as well as the greatejl Poii.ts-^ and for the fmalieji as ivell as for the greatejf, they damnd one another. It is to he hop'd, we are not to learn our Religion from thofe irho wanted Charity \ nor our Charity and Meehiefs froin Men that were perpetually quanelUng^ and curfng each other.

They indeed contradi&ed the fir /I Principles of the Gofpel. by turning Meekjrefs^ Hu7}iility, and Self- denial into Prid:\ Riches and Domination •, and claim d all Things., by Vertue of a Gofpel that gave them Nothing. Are thefe Patter ns^ for fuch as would renounce the World, the Flelh, and the Devil, and live Sober, Righteous, and Godl}?- in the World ? Does their Saintivg of VHhivs and Afajji'its^ asfometimes they did^ entitle them to the Ch.wa^er and Reverence of Saints ? Does their eternal Contention and Contradi&iov., Q^'-^^^fy them for the Center of Unity ? Is their turbulent Spii it, and their wild If ant of cojnmon Senfev, their ravenous Avarice, and flaming Ambition ^ their Fwy arid Fight- ing, their fiequcnt Change of Opinion their Apfhuy avd Murders-.^ I f^y '^'^ all thefe ^ or any of them ^ proper Mai ks of the Guides of God's People <' And thfit thefe Marks belong to many of the Fathers, and all of them to fame., is too manifeft. The foUcwivg Sheets will prove that they do : Indeed, their own Wi it- ings, and all Fcclefiaflical Hiflory, do little elfe but prove it.

We have often heard the Diff enters charg''d with Famticifyn^ and their beji Writers have been caWdFana-

ticks.

The PREFACE,

tich^ by Men who revere-ncd much greater Fanatkh, rvhiljf they reverevcd the Fathers, who fay out went in Fajjaticijm, even the wildejl Seciarics that appear'd in England, during the late long civil V^ar 5 nor were the Ranters, Sweet- Singers, Muggletonians, Fifth Monaichy Men, or any nj them all, more ft ark mad with tnthujiafm, than the Fathers were -^ who, bejides the Tmbulency oj their Behaviour, by which they brought many and heavy Evils and Perjecutions upon the primitive Chilians, afjeited Piijiciples utterly ir- icconcileable to human Society, as well as to Religion and Rcafan. Jacob Behmen was not a greater Vi- jivnary, nor vended more devout Dreams.

I thank God, we can under jiand the Scriptures with- out the volujninous and contradi^ory Ravings and De- clamations of the Fathei s, who have equally perverted the Religion oj Jeibs, and the Religion of Nature 5 both which are clear enough to thnfe that will fee them, and do mutually confirm each other. There is as much Difference, and indeed Oppnjition, between the A^ew Tejlament, and the JfYitings of the Fathers, as there is betwixt the Pentateuch and the Talmud ^ which, by its Fables, Forgeries, and wild Inventions, has mangled, darken d, and perverted the Jlwri and plain Hijlory of Mofes ^ nor are the Dreams, Fables, and Abfurdi- ties of the Fathei s more f acred, or lefs glari^ig and extravagant, than thofe of the Rahbies. Never were f'.ch ridiculous Comme^ttators vpon Texts ^ and where a Child that could but read, would not have niifsd their Meaning, the Fathers have mifsd it. They were fo far from under ft an ding, applying, explaining or improving the amiable and evident Moral of the O'fpel, that whoever woud look for it in a Place wheie he is fur e not to find it, need only read the Fa- J hers i, and I ftwuld think very meajtly of our Country Curates, if moft of them coud not compofe SyHems of Divinity, more Rational and Scriptural than any of the Fathers ever composed. Thus

The PREFACE.

Thm much I thought proper to fay here coucevrnv^ the Fathers^ by way of Preface to the folloTri7ig Pa- pers. Whoever woud fee more elfewhere^ may read, the /g^ni'ff Dr. Whitby's late Latin Treatife ejititl'd Difquifitioncs Modefti% avd Mr. Marvel's port Hifiory of Councils, ajd Daille of the Ufe of the Fathers.

I am

The Reader's 7noH humble Servant,

The Independent Whig.

THE

( • )

THE

HISTORY

O F

MORALITY.

W^W^: W O Sorts of People ought, in a parti- '^^^'^W' ^"^^^ Manner, to apply thenifelves to SImh^ Morality, vh. The Public Minifters of ''^- Pm:r^ Religion, and the Learned, or thofe vho profefi to cultivate their Mivds by the Study of ths Sciences. The one and the other are equally t'biiged to inform themfelves upon this Head, and ro inRruct the Ignorant as much as lies in their Power ; but the Obligation of the firft is more binding and indifpen fable, than that of the laft.

£

It

( o

It is certain, that ^ Morality ix the Daiiglter cf Religion, thjt fie keeps tveii Face with her avcL that the Perfeclion of Alorality is the Meafme of th& Feyfe&io7i of Religion. A great Emperor and Pa- gan Philofopher has own'd this : ^ " Thou wilt " never, faid he, do an}' thing purely Human in " a right manner, unlefs thou knowell: the Rela- " tion it bears to Things Divine-, nor any Thing " Div^ine, unlefs thou knowefl: all the Ties it has *' to Things Human." In elfett, the fundamental Principles of Natural Religion, which ought to be the Balis of all Religions, arc the moft firm, or rather the only Foundation of the Science of Mo- rality. Without the Divinity, Duty, Obligation, Right, are, to fpeak the Truth, <= but fine Ideas, which may pleale the Mind, but will never touch the Hearty and wh'ch, in themfelves confidered, can never lay us under an indifpenfable NecelTity of a£ling or not acting, after a certain Alanner. The Ideas of Order, Agreeablenefs, and Confor- mity to Reafon, have, without Doubt, fcmething real j they are founded on the Nature of Things, upon certain, moft true Relations : Even fuch as don't difcover them diftinitly, and in all their Extent, have a cor.fufed Notion of them : Cur Minds are formed after fuch a Manner, that they can''t help affenting tci them as foon as' propns'd ^ and 'tis thus that the Hovejlum has in all Times made an ImprcfTion upon Alcn of the m-^fl nn- ' '•. ^- civiliz'd

^ Mr.AdMai.T)-xc\^x's Prefjce to //;« Moral Refltdlionf rf

Mati: A'Mony, Par i.

», /-A •■ f . f . > ■ - ♦■ ? ' ' ',. ~ "^ •?

'!r^'i,itT a'r; eu-7r:f.My.' M^rc. Anronin. L 5. Par. 15. Ed. Gacikeri, 5j Vat. 12. In Mr. {'i^cMt'sVerJion.

'^ See Rirhej'rac'j Nites o/i VuS^nfi. •'. 2. c. 3. P.ir. jc. X^. 7., and c. 4. Par. 5. N^of. 4.

( 3 )

.civilized Nations But, to give thefe Ideas all tke Force they are capable of, to make them able to keep their Ground again ft the PalFions, and pri- vate Interefts j it is neceflary there fViOuld be a fupcrior Being, a Being more powerful than we are, which may compel ns to conform ourfelves to them invariably in our Conduct, that may bind lis fo, that it may not be in our Power to difengage cuiTelves at Pleafiire ^ in a Word, that ma}'^ lay us under an Obligation, properly fo called, to fol- low the Light of our own Reafon. This Fear of a Divinity, that punifhcs Vice, and rewards Virtue, has fo great an Ffficac}'-, that although the iun- damenral Prii.ciplesof Religion (hould beobfcured by theMixtnre of Error and Superftition, provid- ed they are not entirely corrupted and effaced, it does not fail to ad up to a certain Point. The more pure, and the better fupported thefe Principles are, the more they ferve to ftrengthen the Foun- dations of Morality, and to puih the Rules of it in all their Confequcnces. But compofe the fineft Syftem in the World, if Religion ftand for no- thirg in it, it will be, if I may fo fpeak, but a Speculative Morality, you v/ill build r4i the Sand. This being the Cafe, it was natural, that the Public Minifters of Religion fhould make Mora- lity their priiicipal Study, in order to conform themfelves toit in all their Steps, and to giv? the People juft Ideas, capable of producing folid Vir- tue. But they have been far enough from doing all that they ought, and might have done in this Rtfpcci. Among the Heathens, the Divhies, the Soothfjycrs^ and the PjieJIs, who declar'd ths heavenly Oracles, and called themfelves the In- terpreters of the Will of the Gods, never gave themfelves the Trouble to te ch Men the Rules of Virtue. And it mufl: be confcfs'd, that Lef- B 2 fons

(4 )

Tons of found Morality, in their Mouths, would have been very ill match'd with the frighttui Ideas they gave of the Divinity, and the Wcak- neffes, Imperfections, or even Vices, which they attributed to him b}'' a ftrange Subvtrlion of all the Lights of Keaibn. Accordingly we He, that the ancient Dodtors of Chrift'anity have very livelily reproached the Varans with this unlawtul Divorce ot Religion frcm Morality. ^ Thcfe who teach the irorJJnp of the Gods, fays LaBjivthis^ take no Notice of avy Th'mg that may feive to 3 egubte jMjv- vers, itvd the CovdiiB of Life : They do net hi the lea ft fearch after Ti nth, hut apply the mj elves only to lean: the Ceiemome'i of Divine If 'or /ijip, which reqiiiies only the Mivijhy of the Body, and in which the Sevti- 7ne7its of the Heait h.ive no Pait. '^ T/'t? Pagan Fhi- lofophy and Religion, are two Things quite diJlinB one from the other. Morality hai its particid.n Do&ois^ who do not teach the Manner of approaching the Gods .* And Religion has lihewife its MiniJIers, %vho do not teach the kides of Mor ality Ficm whence it appears^ that there is no tnie AlmuUty, nor any t)ve Rdigion. In Reality, as Mr. Ba^;le has obfcrved: ^ " It *" would be ver^ dilficult to prove. That the Va- " j^aw Priefrs required anything besides the Out- " fide of Piety, That they prefs'd Amendment of " Life, and taught, That without a iincere and " lading Repentiince of the Irregularities ot the

'' Heart,

'^ Nihil i')i ('i/; i/.")Vf<»; fft,'^'■f_,l <iilT riinr, q''0 1 p'oficiar ;iti mores excoleiKlof, vifaiw;u- fo' rrnrKi-.irp. n^c ''a'-ef inqmn- tionerr! -rfliqiiam Vf-rir.^ns, it'l r-itnun m^xlo 'ftcni colrmli, qn; nop officio inenri'. fed minift-rio Cori-'oris coiifl:«r. ir.fi^t. V'ty'tn. I. 4. f, 5. j-.jim, 1, 7. Eii.Ce' ar.

' See Id. Ihid. num. 4 See Sr. Aiii^uftin de Civiiat. Dei. /. x. t. 4. '& 6.

^ Conrimi .rion ^p ^i»nr-''"<: f'.iverf s. Art- ^^. p. iig. Set Mr. Lock'j Reajlnal eriefs of Oniftiahin.^ p. 3';j-.

(■ 5 )

" Heart, Vows, Offerings, ProcelTions, Sacrifices,

" Ordinary or txtraordinary Sacrifices, could ne-

" ver appeafe the Anger ot the Gods. Jt is

*' much more eafy to prove, that they left the *' World in this convenient Delufion, that it was ** fulTicient to be bountiful towards the Gods, and " to follow the Formulary of Rites and Cere- " monies. The Satyr of Perfeus may convince us " of this, where he thunders againft thofe who " make a Bank of Religion : And immediately ** after calls upon the Priells to declare, what can " be t lie Efficacy of Gold in Holy Things. £ But I dejh € to kvuw of you, ye P} iejfs^ of what Service is thh Gold, which is hi the holy Places ^ Of juji the fame Se}v'ue as the Puppets which youvg Girls offer to Venus, are to her. y^hyjhould not we cffer to the Gods fo7neth'nii( which neither the Cotta'5, vor the Mefiala\ with all their ynagmfcert Bafons fltd with the Flejl) of their woTt exquifte Fi(f7i;«.t, can prcfejtt them with ? Vhy fwuld vot we <ffer to them ayt vp- ri^ht, Jt7iceie^ gev^rous. Soul, pierced with the woi? lively !' ejitivievts of Juftice and Honour <* / defve no more than this to prefevt them with, and Vin fure of ohtaivivg n^h.nfoever I Jlmll afk, though I JJjould fa- crifcc to them nothijig better than Salt and Meal fningled tof,ether ^^

'' Is not this infinuating that the Priefts were " the People that fomented that mercenary Tem- per

K Diritr, Poiififjci'S, in Sa'i(fln quid far t atiriin:! ? Nomp? In*-, qnnil \'eneri dotiatT a Viruine Pup*. Quin (l^m'i-; id fnpTis, dc m-igna qtind dare lance Non poflir m^gni MflLIpelippa prnpapo, fnmpofimni jus, fafqiie animi, fanilofqiie rerefTiis Mtiui<:, ^ inco(fhim generofo pedtu? honfflo, Hoc cerjo, uradmoveam rempli? & f,*rre lifabo;

Ptrf. S*t.l. >ttf. 69, tfr/r^.

'• ViL Drydcn'r Englifli Tranjlation of Perfeus.

( ^ )

"• per, that Trade and Bufinefs of Devotion, tha^ '' reigning Abufe, which made People profiife *' in their Vidims and Offerings to the Gods, *• imagining that the celeflial Powers (as much '• delighted as Men, with Prefents of Gold and " Silver,) would grant whatfoever they Ihould

" requeft at their Hands ^ It does not ap-

*' pear whether thefe Priefis were Men of Learn- " ing, or had philofophiz'd upon the Nature of " the Gods : But we have ground to believe, " that they had not Vertue and Probity, enough " to teach Men to place a much greater Confi- *' dence in the Purity ot the Heart, than in " the exteriour Practices of d'vine Woriliip, and " the txpences of Rehgion. The Gain of the *' Priefts would have been too much lefTen'd, " had the People followed the Maxims of the " Philofophers, " To all this let me add a PalTage of Socrates^ in that Dialogue of PUtos, which bears the Name of Entyphron. that is to fay, of the Perfon with whom Socrates is intro- duced fpeaking. He xvas a Soothfayer, and So- crates feems in his Perfon to reproach all Prieils, and other Perfonsof that Charadter, ^ with being very referv'd* and loath to com;rinnicare their Knowledge and Underflanding : By which, in all Probability, he particularly means that whkh relates to Moralit3r, as is infinnated by the Op- pofition he makes of their Conduct, to that which he obferves in his Dialogues, which ordinarily turn upon this Science, and whofe only Tendency is to make Men better, and to infpire them with the Love of Vertue. Moreover the very vSub- •iecfcof the Dialogue, gives us to underftand clear- ly the falfe Ideas the Priefts had in Matters of

Morality,

« " lyctiJ -^ -yv fi ^o-:,?,-, G-TTXir-Y 'TiXuDv -tr-api 'civ, >c, Sil ccTiiUi/ inXy-.siVir a-iAvliT aoxixv. TQin. i. pig. 3. D. E-!it. Steph.

( 7 )

Morality, for there we fee Eutyphron, who be- lieves he's doing the bell Adtion in the World, of his own pure Motion, led to inform againft his own Father, in an Affair in which he pretend- ed to convidt him of Murder. It will perhaps be objected to me, what I have faid ^ elfe where, in one of my Notes, that among the Pagajis, even the People knew, that Vertue is agreeable to the Divinity, and that Vice is odious to it : Whence it feems to follow, that the People were indebted for that Knowledge, to the publick Minifteis of Religion. But there is a great deal of Probabi- lity, that thefe Sorrs of Principles kept their ground among the People, either by an antient Tradition, or by the Remains of the Light of natural Religion, or by botli join a together ^ and that if the Priefts did not teach downright the contrary, or if they even recommended Vertue fometimes, it was after a loofe Manner, and with- out ever entering into an inftrudive Detail, of which they were, without Doubt, incapable. But this is fifficient for my Purpofe, which is to fhew, that ainong the Rigajis^ the publick Minifters of Religion who ought to have made Morality their principal Study, concern'd themfelves with nothing lefs than that.

Among the Jems, it does not appear, that the Priefts apply'd themfelves to this Science, and after that there were no more Prophets among; this chofen People of God, that is to fav, a little after their Return from the Bahylomjl) Captivity, the Doctors and publick Interpreters of the Law, begun infenfibly to corrupt Morality 5 thcv were far from difcovcring its true Principles, and pufliin? them in all their Confcqnences, as thcv might eafily have done, by the Aihiiance of Revelation, of . whicli

^ Oa PufleuU. 1, 2. c. 4. par. 3. Nor. 4.

( ^ )

which they were the Depofltaries ^ but being whol- ly taken up with the Civil Law, or the Study of Ceremonies, labouring under carnal Prejudices, and icrupulonilj'' attach'd to the Letter of the Law, they did not apprehend, or even acted con- trary to the Defign of the Lawgiver. Upon Pre- tence that God, to accomodate himfelf to the Weaknefs of the JewiJI) Nation, had prefcrib'd them a great Number of Rites and Ceremonies, they prefs'd the Eiercife of that exteiiour Wor- fhip, and the formal Pradices of Devotion, much more than Purity of Heart, and an exact Attach- ment to the Rules of Virtue \ and which is worfe, by their falfe GlolTes and ' humane Traditions, they came at laft to deftro}'' entirely divers of the moft indifputable Principles of the Law of Nature ^ >" they invented, for Example a thou- fand ridiculous Subtilities, to make Room to evade the Obligation of an Oath, and the moll: folemn Promifes ^ " If avy ove (faid the Scribes, and Pha- rifees, whom for this Reafon Jefm Cbriji calls Hy- pocrites and blind Guides) if any one fwear by the Tem- ple, it is nothing-^ but wh rtf never JImll fwear by the Gold

of the Temple, he is a Debtor. JfHwf never jlmll

fwear by the /iltar, it is nothing •, hut whnfoever fwear-

eth by the Gift that is upon it, he is guilty. Te

pay Tithe of Mint, and Anife^ and Cuymnin, and have omitted the weightier Mtitters of the Law, y^'dg- ment, Mercy, and Faith It is one of the mofi: pure Maxims nf good vSenfe, that ° all Vows contrar}'' to a divine Law, are in thf mfelves entirel}'- void. Neverthelefs the Priefts, and the Doctors who depended upon them, finding their Account in

Vows,

• See ytattU. ir- 5.

B' S-e Maith. ly. 3.

n Matth. 23, :6, i", 2.3.

• lufFtnd. 1. 3. c. 6. pnr, ly. 1. 4. c. a. par. 8.

(9 )

Vows made in Favour of the Temple, had the Imimdence to maintain, that if any one had vow'd to God all that he could have given to his Fa- ther or h s Mother, fuch Vow was lawful and ir- revocable ^ fo that after the Vow, that unnatural, or rather impious Child, was, according to them, not only difpens'd with alUfting his Parents in their Neceilities, but could not even do it in Confcience, becaufe of the Obligation of his Vow. P Whofoever fiall fay to his Father or his Mo- ther^ it is a Gift by wbatfoever thou might ejl be profited by me^ ought not to hamir his Father or his Mother 5 this was their Decifion. As God, for Reafons founded on the Conftitution of the JemJI) Com- monwealth, had forbid the Jews to have much Communication with other Nations, and even exprefsly commanded them, to root out fome of them, they conceiv'd Sentiments of implacable Hatred and Animofity againft all the reft of Mankind. Thus a Jew look'd upon himfelf as difpens'd with, from doing any Office of "^ Hu- manity, or any Duty of '^ Civilit}'", to all Perfons of other Nations, unlefs they embrac'd the Jewijf) Religion •, he even pretended to a Right of con- fidering them as fo many Enemies, on whom he was not only permitted, but even pofltively commanded to revenge himfelf, when he could do it without Punilhment ^ and far from being able to fet himfelf right as to thefe Orange inhu- mane Onip'oiis, b}'- the Inftrudtion of his Mafters and Teachers, he ronfirm'd himfelf in them in their School. The Pharifees^ big with the Opi-

C nions

'' M^tth. i^. 5".

•i Sfe T"ven. Sar. 14. 105, 104. Tacit. Hift. /. y. c. J- and the Parable of the Samaritan, Lukt 10, jo. & fe^. ' See Mattk. y. 47.

( 'O)

nions of yudas Gauhnita, imagined, that there were none, but fuch as were Magiftrates of their own Nation, and immediately eitablifh'd by the Order of God, to whom they were bound to pay Obedience, from a Principle of Confcience ^ and upon this Foundation they { taught, that it was not lawful to pay Tribute to the Roman Em- perour, though he was in the peaceable PofTeflion of their Country •, they likewife did divers other Things of the like Nature^ as our Saviour Jefus Chrifl reproaches them in divers ^ Parts of the Gofpel. The Dodtors, whom the Jeivs have had in the following Ages, to this Day, have in this Refpe£t onj^r improved upon their PredecefTors, as appears from the Extravagances, the deteftable Maxims, and impieties, of which the Tahmtd^ and the Books of the Rabbins are full. We find in them, for Ex- ample, that it is no Harm "^ to curfe the Chri- Giana *. That it is not lawful "' to fuccour an Idolater, when we fee him ready to be drown'd, or in Danger of perilhing by any other Way: That we ought not to pertorm the Fundion of a PhyfTcian to an Idolater, even when we could get by it a liberal Recompence, unlefs we be- liev'd that this Refufal would draw on us the

Hatred

^ See Matth. 22. 17. Jofeph. Antiq. Jud. J. 18. c. i. Sc de BelJ. Jud. 1.2. c. 12.

* M^rk 7. 15.

" See Groriui's Letters^ Part. i. E'pifl. 122.

" -Maimoindes ile Idololarr. ex Verf. & cum Not. Dion. Voflii. in fine Tom. y. Oper. Gerh. Joh. Voffi'u Amft. 1700. Nnte^ that this RAbl)in is one of the nioft e/Jeem'd, and mofl j'ldicious among them. There are other Examples^ of his de- t^ftabie or rid^'-uJouf M^ixims of Morahty^ in the ^ibjiracl of hit Treattfe of v.n O^rh. Nouv, de ia Repub. des Lct^r. Jan. 1700. Arc. 4. See aZ/o B.^fiiage Hift. of tne Jews, I. 4 c. ty. Hhsre the Author cites dlrers y'lU Maxims of the fewij}} DoSiors.

( «i ;

Hatred of the fick Perfon, or we had Ground to fear feme Harm from hini : In this Cafe, fay they, it is lawful to fuccour him, but on Con- dition, that he pay well for it ^ for it is not law- ful to fuccour him Gratis. ^Thvs havs thefe falp Dolors ccnru^ted the Purity of Mofes'^ Morality . ' ' Jeftts Chrjfl, during the Courfe of his Minifb]^, never ceas'd to combat and entirely confme the erroneous Maxims, and pernicious Cloffes of the JewiJI) Dodtors. He re-eltabliih'd Morality in all its Purity j he fully difcover'd the true Sources, and gave, as to all the Duties of Men in general, and each one in particular, general but perfeft Rules, entirely agreeable to Reafon, and the true IntereRs of Mankind. His Difciples preach'd to all the Word this moft holy Doctrine, by Means of which, well underftood and explained, we may guide ourfelves furely, in the Decilion of all Cafes imaginable : Neverthelefs, even in the Times of the Apoftles, there crept into the Church a great Number of falfe Dodtors, who began to corrupt the Chriftian Morality, pretending that to it > ought to be join'd the Obfervation of the Mofaic Ceremonies ^ although the Son of God had mariifef^ly freed Men from the Obligation of fubmitting themfelves to that Yoke, much fitter in itfelf to turn Men from true Vertue, than to maintain or produce it. There were likewife People, who teaching another Dodrine than that of Jefus ChriJ}^ ^ gave heed to Fables^ and ejidlefs Ge- 7iealogies, which mivijler ^lefliom, rather than godly C 2 Edify.

* /Vr. Bernard, in his Nouvflles. Odlober 1701, p. ^^6, Mhere he titti theft loofe Deci/tont of the fereifh Doflor.

y See VjluVs Epift. to the Romans, and Galatian<) 4nd Colod. 3. 10. feq.

» I Tim. I. 3, 4, jr, 6, 7. ftri Peter 1. 1, ».

( l^ )

Edifyiftgi which is in Faith, and in Charity, which is the End of the Commandments, both of the Law and of the Gofpel j rafcall)' blind Dodlors, under- jianding neither vehat they fay nor whereof they affirm, have turned afide unto vain Jangling. > There were others, that defpifed Government, who being audacious and f elf willed, were not afraid to f peak evil of Dig- 9iities-^ wbuboldiiig Lifcowfcs full of Vanity and Folly, drew to them by the Lvjis of the FleJJ), and by De- bauchery, People that had cUan efcapedfrom them who live in Error, who ^ changd the Grace of our God into Wantonnefs: Others, laftly, ^ That held the Do^rine of Balaam, who ^ taught Balack to cajl a Stumbling Block before the Children of Ifrael, to sat Things facrijiced unto Idols, aitd to commit Fornica- tion.

It is not therefore to be wondered at, that after the Death of the Apoftles, and their firft Difciples, the Evil encreafed every Day more and more. The extream Fondnefs of the following Ages for ^ Fables and Allegories, ^ falfe Eloquence, and the Reveries of the Ptgan s Philofophers •, the pro- found Ignorance cf the Art of jull: Reafoning. and of the right ^ Manner of interpreting the Holy

Scripture ;

' i Peter lo. i8.

^ Jude -ver. 4.

' Revehc. 2. 14,

^ Ste Numb- 22. ^ feq.

• 5fff Biblioth. Univ. Tom 10. p. 253- & Teq. aniVi.in V'ln in fe«* Bil)liotheqiie of Eeehf. y^uth. Tom. i. p. 7. Edit, JHol. andB^fn^ge's Hifi.of the ]t\v%, I. 5 c. 22.

* Ste ArsCritica of M. le Clerc Ton), x. P^rt. 2. Se(f?-. i. c. 17. Par. 13. & feq. p. 347. & feq. Edit. 4. and ^\h\. Univ. "Jom. 12. p. 144, fi/c. 263, ^c.

8 Bibl. Univ. Tom. 10. p. 181, ^c.

fc 5eff Defenfe dcs Sentim. de quelq. Theolog. d'Holl. &c, Lett. 14. Wotton on ancient and modern Le^rning^ c. 23. Lc Clsro Epift. Cm.<2£ Ecclef. Epift. 4.

( »3 )

Scripture •, the Impetuofity with which Men abandoned themfelves to the Motions of a heated Imagination ^ the Ambition and Immorality of the greateft ' Part ot the Ecclefiafticks, who were mere jealous of their own Rights and Privileges, and more fet upon difcuillng fome Point of Djici- pline, or certain abftra(SedQuefi:ions, than careful to ftudy Morality, and inftrud the People ^ the frightful Diforders, and fcindalous Divifions which fo often rent the Church •, the grofs Abufes which from Time to Time crept into PracHce, and which at laft made a Reformation necelTary, always fo difficult to Attempt, and ftill more to execute 5 the little Solidity we meet with in the greateft Part of the Writings we have left of Eccleliaftical Antiquity : All this gives us no Ground to be- lieve, that the Study of Morality made great Progrefs in the World in thofe Times, notwith- ftanding all the Light of the Gofpel : But that there may be no Doubt remaining upon this Head, let us enter a little on Particulars.

'' jrho does v(jt hww ''fays a Reformed Minifler) that the greateji Part of the Fathers have wrote nothing vpon Alatters of Covfcience •, and that thofe who have touch d on it. have faid nothing vponmoji ^eflioja, the Decifion of which is of Importance ? In Reality, it appears by the Books which are ccme to our Hands, and the Catalogues of thofe that are loft, that moft of thofe that are called fathers of the Church never took Pen in Hand but to write up- on Matters purely fpeculative, or Ecclefiaflical Dif:ipline. If they treated on Points of Morality,

*twas

> Sety for Example^ feyeral Tajfages nf Grtgory Nazianzsn, «n<i Ribl. Univ. Tom. 18. y. 5-7, 91, no, 119.

^ La Placeite, de la Coafcience, Li v. 2. c. x6. p. 190. Edit. I.

( 14 )

*tw^s very rarely, or on a particular Occafion, an3 always in a loofe immethodical Manner. The Sermons which they fometimes made upon thefe ^rts of Subjeds, were fo very full of the vain Ornaments of a falfe Rhetorick, that the Truth was, as it were, ftifled under a Heap of Figures, ^d pompous Declamations. Mofl: of the Maxims of Morality which they fcatter'd in their Works, were drawn by the Force of Machines, and ex- travagant Allegories, from a Thoufand PafTages of Scripture, where quite another Thing was meant. To be convinced of this, we need only read the Colle£tions which the ^ bigotted Ad- mirers of Ecclefiaftical Antiquity hai^e given us ct fuch Thoughts as appeared to them the molt beautiful in the Works of the Fathers. Moreover, thefe ancient Dodtors of the Church, even in their leaft imperfect Treatifes of Morality, perpetually «" confound the Duties of a Man, and the particu- lar Duties of a Chriftian, confidered precifel}'- as fuch j as alfo the Principles of Moralit)?- purely Natural, and thofe ot theChriflian Morality: On the other Hand, it often happens, that they make too great a Difference between tlie Man a^d the Chriftian \ fo that by carrying this Diflicti- on too far, they prefcribe imprafticable Rules. Laftly, a very plain Proof of the little Care they take to cultivate Morality, is, that almoft all of them are fallen into the moil grofs Errors upon

that

1 Tar Examphy Mr. de Sicy's Commentaries on the Scriptures \ *nd the inpeniou* Thoughts of tne Fathers of the Church, col- leSlti by Father Bouhours, their profefs'd Admirer. See what M. Bcrmt^ fayt of them, NouveJ. de Septembre, 1704, p. 282 to 285.

°' Buddei Hid. Juris Natural, P^r. 10. ie/ore7j« Seledla J. N. & Gentium.

( '5)

that Head. Let us run over the mofi: celebrated among them, and they will furnifh us with hw- nifeft Examples of what I have faid.

" Athenagoras holds ** the jrorjhip of Artgeh^ and fays, that they were created to take Care of Thivgs here below. He praifes Virginity, condemns fecond Marriages, and calls them an p honourable Adultery.

The Work ot Clejjiens Alexandriyius, entitled the Pedagogue, is a Book in which ^ he forms the Minds of Touth, and lays down for them Rules of Chriflian ConduB. In this Treatife, are fcatteredup ajtddovm divers Maxims, ve)y fevere, and different from the Cujloms of the prefent Times. It is a confufed Heap of Precepts without Order, without Connexion, full of Declamations and M)^n:enesi in one Word, worthy of him, 'who writes almoj} continually, with- out Order, and without Coherence, and who boafts himfelf, in another ^ Work, of having had a Dejfgn to cover and perplex Things, that fo Jione butfuch as are lery intelligent, and willing to take a great deal of Pains, might be able to comprehend them. There are, in the Pedagogue, divers Paffages, which, in the Opinion of Mr. du Pin, ^ ought not to be read by every one. As Gement of Alexandria preferred in general the Stoick Philofophy to all others, there are likewife in that Work divers Paradoxes : ** For Example, he ^ maintains, that ^' the ChrU '* Jiian is the only rich Man. A Paradox very like " to

■ In hit /Apology for the Chriflians.

* Dii Pin Bibl. des Aureurs Ecclef. Tom. i. p. 6?. Ed. d'HoI. P Aivli^^ (yo^fj.'^) iv-TT^c-TTr.; In fiotx.ei'x- p. 298.

1 Bill. Univ. Tora. 10. p. 21S.

' Da Pin in the Place aboyecited, p. 86; col. 2.

^ Srromata 1. i. 4. & 7. in fine.

* In the ahoye cited Place.

'^ The Life of Clenaent of Alexandria, l>jf M. Ic Clito. 8iL>l. Univ. Tom. 10. p. 194. ' L. 3. c,$.

i

A?

9 9 ■

( \'6 )

•* to that of the Stoicks, who faid the fame Thing * of their wife Man. Thofe Philofophers exprefs " themfelves thus : That the wife Man is the orlj *' rich Atin •, and Clemetit has changed nothing but ** the Word Philofopher into that of ( hrijiiaji. The '* Arguments he ufes to prove his Propofition, " are not very different from thofe of the Stoicks, " as will plainly appear, by comp:iring what he " fa3''S with the Explication Cicero gives of that " Stoical Maxim, in his " Paradoxes^ When he explains this Precept of the Gofpel, '^ ff heji they perfecvte you in one City, fiy into another^ he reafons upon the Principles of the Stoich^ who denied that Pain was an Evil : The Lord, fays he, does not command us to fly, as if it were an Evil to be perfe- cvted ^ and he does not ccinynand us to avoid Death by flight, as if we cvght to fear it. Our Dodtor, in the following Part of his Diicourfe, founds the Commandment to fiy, upon this, that otherwife we Ihould give Occafion to the Perfecutors to commit Murder: JefvsChriH, ra3''s he, would not have us engage nor affifi any one to do Evil^ Sec. The chimerical Idea of the wife Man of the Stoich, re- prefented a Man entirely without Pafilons: So likewife Qement maintains, in another Place, that ^ A t)ue Ch ifiian in free from Pajions, even the moB innocent ones^ "*■ except fuch af regard the Pre- feivation of the Body, a< Hunger^ and Thirji, and fuch like. Upon this Principle he pretends, that Jefus Chiji and his Apoftles had ' no Pdflions,

and

" Paradox 6.

* Srromar. 1. 4. y. ^c:;.

>■ Whom h' calls Gnofhc (;).'.■ f.xV-r') that m to fay^ one that ferfefl'y Hnderp.tr.ds th' Chrifiian Religion.

* L. 6. p. 649. Srromat.

' lb. ic Clerc. Lettr. Crit. & Ecclef. Epift. i. p. i?, 19.

"» H. T 1.

,«!F«f» » I

'^

( '7 )

and that Je^m Chrifi himfelf had no Senfe either of Pleafure or Pain •, that he had no Cccafion to eat, and that, if he did it, it was for fear of be- ing taken for a Spectre. He like wife very incau- tiounvjuftifies the Idolatry of the Fagayis, where he fays, that ^ Qed gave than the Sun, Mooji, and ether Stars^ that they might adore th?m, and by that If^orjkip raife themfelves to the trve God, A ^ Pro- feffor in Divinity, of the Lutheran Communion, has endeavoured to vindicate Clement upon fome of the Miftakes Tm fpeaking of But if we exa- mine ail that he fays upon that Head, we fhall find, that he does not fucceed at all better, than where he maintains, that the Pedagogue and the Stromata are eicellent Works, both in regard of the Morality, and of the Stile and Method. The Analyfis v/hich he himfelfgives, isalmoflfufficient to perfwade the Reader of the contrary to what he pretends to prove, and to fhew the little Foundation of the magnificent Elogiums which he beftov/s on the Pi i eft of Alexandria.

Tertui.lian, to fay nothing here of the Chi- merical Vifions and extravagant Aufterities of the Mf/trtanijli, which he was milled into, feems to carry a little "- too far, in fome Cafes, this mojl true Principle, that all fvch as favour the Wicked in their Iniquity, or in any Manner whatfoever, contribute to Evil, are guilty • and to tale Things flricily which may he ex' cufei ; as for Example, the <^ bearing A) ms for the iJeferce of the State -, the adorning of Houfes with Illuminations and Laurels, in Honour of Princes -, to

D make

' v.. 6. Sfromat. p, 669.

'' MirJu Forifthiui Comm. in Offic. ArnLrof. DiiT. 1. P«ir,

'■ Du Pin. BiLliotti. c'ts Aut. Lccl.Tom. j. p. 102. * D; I'lololarria.

Ill • i St

• % § w • » . % % » i • ft «

]! • i; • ft ft *

t I m. u ft w ft

ft B ft »..VJ"

, % i ft. ft^»_,ft i

«:it ft vjutM

«J«.

C 16 )

to that of the Stoicks, who faid the fame Thing of their wife Man. Thofe Philofophers exprefs themfelves thus : That the wife Man is the ovlj rich Man ^ and Clement has changed nothing but the Word Philofopher into that off hrijlian. The Arguments he ufes to prove his Propofition, are not very different from thofe of the Stoicks^ as will plainly appear, by comparing what he fays with the Explication Cicero gives of that Stoical Maxim, in his '"•' Paradoxes.^' "When he explains this Precept of the Gofpel, '^ Ifheti they perfenite you in one City, fiy into another^ he reafons upon the Principles of the Stoicks, who denied that Pain was an Evil : The Lord, fays he, does not command us to fly, as if it were an Evil to be perfe- cvted ^ and he does not command us to avoid Death by flight, cu if we ought to fear it. Our Dodor, in the following Part of his Difcourfe, founds the Commandment to fly, upon this, that otherwife we {hould give Occafion to the Perfecutors to commit Murder: JefitsChriH, fays he, would not have us engage nor ajjiU any one to do Evil^ &c. The diimerical Idea of the wife Man of the Stoich, re- prefented a Man entirely without Palfions: So likewife Clement maintains, in another Place, that y j4 true Chriflian is free from PaJJions, even the moB innocent ones^ * except fuch as regard the Pre- fervation of the Body, ns Hunger^ and Thirft, and fuch like. Upon this Principle he pretends, that Jefus Chip and his Apollles had ' no Piifions,

and

* Paradox 6.

" FJtromar. 1, ^. p. <;c/I,.

>■ Whom h' calls Gurihc (^rs-rocoi"") that it to fay, one that perfefHy underftards th<- Chrifiian Religion.

* L. 6. p. 649. Srromat.

» lb. le Clerc. Leur. Crit. & Ecclef. F,p:{l. i. p. iP> 19.

( '7 )

and that Jefus Chnjl himfelf had no Senfe elthef of Pleafure or Pain -, that he had no Occafion to eat, and that, if he did it, it was for fear of be- ing taken for a Spedre. He likewife very incau- tioufly juftifies the Idolatry of the Pagans, where he fays, that a Cod gave them the Sun, Moon, and other Stars, that they vi'ight adore them, and by that irorjinp raife themfelves to the trxie God, A ^ Pro- fefTor in Divinity, of the Lutheran Communion, has endeavoured to vindicate Clement upon fome of the Miftakes Tm fpeaking of But if we exa- mine all that he fays upon that Head, we Ihall find, that he does not fucceed at all better, than where he maintains, that the Pedagogue and the Stromata are excellent Works, both in regard of the Morality, and of the Stile and Method. The Analysis which he himfelfgives, isalmoftfufficient to perfwade the Reader of the contrary to what he pretends to prove, and to fhew the little Foundation of the magnificent Elogiums which he beftows on the Prieft of Alexandria.

Tertullian, to fay nothing here of the Chi- merical Vifions and extravagant Aufterities of the Montan'ijls, which he was miflcd into, [eeins to carry a little ''■too far, in fome Cafes, this ?noJl true Priyiciple, that all fiich an favour the JHcked in their hnquity, or in any Manner whatfoever, contribute to Evil, are guilty ; and to take Things JlriBly rrhich may be ex- cufed •, as for Example, the ^ hearing Aj ms for th& Defence of the State ; the adorning of Houfes with Illuminations and Laurels, in Honour of Princes ^ to

D make

* L. 6. Srrom.Tt. p. 66q.

•> Mich. Fortfchius Comm. in Offic. Arabrof. DifT. 2. Par. 6. & feq.

' Dii Pin. Bibliotb. c'es Auc. Eccl. Tom. s. p. 102.

* D: Liololarria.

( "8 )

tnahe life of the vfiul irays of fpeahiitg, though they have fome Relation to IdoUtiy. It is rrith the fame Spirit, that vivdicativg^ in his Bock of the Crown, the ABion of a Soldier, who had rejifed to put a G oxpii on his Head \ he yn.xintains, that Lhrifiar.s are abfo- lutely forbid topiit on Crowns,' or even to bcarAjfns.tiQ even calls thofe Plumes or Crowns, which Soldiers life to put upon their Heads, the Pomps of the DeviU and a Sin againli A^iture. When he declaims a- gainft Plays, he keeps within no Bounds, and gives blindly into falle Sentiments, as, where he lays, That it is ^ the Devil who puts the BvJIdns on the A&ors, in order to make Jefiis Chriji lie, who has faid, that no one can add a Cubit to his Stature. He afTerts, that a Chriflian cannot in Confcience per- form the Function of a ^ J"dge, nor ferve as an Executioner of Juftice, He feems to maintain, that one cannot be an Emperor and a Chriftian at the fame Time. In the Booh of Monogamy, and Exhortation to Chajlity, he condemns abfolutely fecovd s Marriages as Adulteiy. He maintains in his Book of avoiding Perfecuiion^ That it is abfolutely forbidden to fly in the Time of Perfecution^ or to give Money to avoid being put to the Rack. After this, it is not to be wondered at, that he condemns Self-De- fence againfl: an unjufl AgE^reffor, as contrary to Chriftian Patience. In order to prove this, he ufes Reafons as weak and trifling as the Maxim is in itfelf hard and extravagant. He fays, that the Gofpel forbids, ^ without Reflridion, to return Evil for Evil.- That it is an Attack upon the

Rights

* De Speft^ciilis c. 23.

■ De Idolnlur. cap. i-, 19. 5c tie Co'ona Miliris c. 11. See DhIIsbus de nfu Prftrunn, J. 2. c. 4. p. 2^2. 2 Dii Pin 105, 102. f" Di Pdtientia, p. i6j. EJ. Rigalt. See Rigauc'j Notes,

( >9 )

Rights of God, and the Homage we owe him, to aiTog ite the Power of defending ones felf as we- think proper : That when JefusChrifi: faid, Judge. rot, le/f ye be judged, he requires a Patience carried, to that Pitch •, For who is he that does not judge ano- ther^ vvlejs fuch a or.e as is patient enough not to de- fend himfelf ? After this Manner does TertuUian ex- plain the Scripture, and on fuch Principles he founds the Maxims of Morality which he ad- vances.

Origen, in his Homilies, is full of Moral In- ftrudlions •, but they are little elfe but Maxims of Morality, drawn from the Scripture by Force of Allegories, and told after a Manner not at all proper to touch the Heart, and to produce a reafonablc Belief It is well known, that this famous Dottor, taking in a literal Senfe, by a very profs Miftake, thefe Words of Jefus Chrift, ' Some have made themfelves Emmchs for the Kingdom of Heaven^ put in Pradice himfelf this miftaken Precept ^ and Demetrius, Biihop of Alexandria, before he became his Capital Enemy, admired, this Adtion of his, as an Example of Heroiclt Virtue.

St. Cyprian ^ was married at the Time of his Converfion^ but" From that Time forward, even *' before Baptifm, he preferred his Chaftity, as " his Deacon Po7/rfi'i- tells us ; Which (hews that it *' was the Opinion of thofe Times, that it was a '* kind of Sardity to live unmarried : An Opi- " liion whirh does not ill match with the Ideas of " Viirne in thofeTimes, which were very often as " dill am from the common Ufage of Life, as the

D 2 Rhetorick

' Matrh. 19, 11.

"« See Cyprian'j lift by M, Le Clerc, Bibl. Univ. Ton[i. ii. I\2i5j 216, 217.

( JO )

Rhetorick of the fame Age, fo much the more efteemed, in that it gave a very new Turn to Things The one was almoft as improper to procure the Good of one's Neighbour, and oi the Community, as the other was to help us to underftand clearly what was faid, and to ac- quire juft Id as. Cyprian, not contented with having pa. ted from his Wife, moreover gave all his Goods to the Poor. He had great Dif- ficulties to get over in parting from his Wife, and it was no fmall Mortification to him. It is very certain, that the Chriftian Religion does not command any Mortification, that ferves to no Purpofe: There was nothing more necef- fary to be enquired into, than whether a Pcr- fon is in a better Condition to ferve God, when he entirely abiiains from a Thing, the Ufe of which has nothing Criminal in it, and which he can't help defiling, or when he continues the moderate Ufe of it. However it be, from the Time of StCypriati, this new kind of Continence, which had been unknown to the precedent Ages, was regarded as a great Vir- tue. ^ St. Cypyi.17! fcarce treats any Thing but in the Stile of a Declaimer, and often fays the mofl common Thi.igs in fb figurative and far fetched a Manner, that, if we don't keep cur felves on the guard, we may eafily imagine that all he fays is of the laft Importance. Unlefs he had had fuch a Turn as this, he would ne- ver have took fo much Pleafure in the Reading of TeituUian, who writes juft after the fame Manner. '"Among the Arguments which he . ufe$ to perfwade young Women to abftain from

" Luxury,

• tb. p- 212., 213. *" lb. p. 252.

( 11 )

*' Luxury, he fays, " It is ading contrary to the " Will of God, to ufe Ornaments, as likewife to " blacken the Hair, fince our Saviour has faid, Tou *' caimot mjke one of your Hain White or Black , and *' you, adds Cypriav, you attempt to farmount a " Difficulty, which God has declared to be in- *' furmountable." A Reafon, that either proves nothing, or proves, that it is not lawful to fhave one's Be ird, or cut ones Hair. St. Cyprians entire Rcafoning turning upon this Maxim : All that grows naturally^ is the Work of God ^ all that we charge, iv any Soi ^ is the Work of the Devil. He feems to be not far removed from the falfe Ideas of Martyr- dom that prevailed in thofe Times, where " he *' "^ comforts beforehand fuch as having confelTed " Jefus Chrifl:, might not perchance obtain the " Honour of being Martyrs, becaufe it might " happen, that the Perfecution fliould ceafe before

" they could be put to Death Which fup-

''■ pofes a Difpofition very diiferent from the Sen- " timentsof him who faid when he was upon the " Point of undergoing the Punifhment of the " Crofs: Oh that this Cup might pafsfrom me !'^ St. Cyprian, in his Treatife of the Ufeftilvefs of Patience, highly extols i' Ahel ior letting his Brother kill him without defending hiiufelf ^ thereby making him- felf aTypeot the Conftancyof the Martyrs. In which, as on the one Hand, he gueffes at a Cir- cumftance, of which there is not the leafl Footftep in the Hiftory of Gevefs ^ on the other, he con- diemns in this PaiTage, and elfcwhere, the natural Right of Self Defence. When he '^ is to anfwer

fuch

" D? Hibitu Virgimim.

• Bihl. Univ. in the aboyt cited Place, p. 148, 149, 270,

» De Bono PatientirE, p. 114. Ed. Breni.

1 lb. p. 309. ex Ep. 59,

( " )

fuch as rebel againfl the Bifhops, he ufcs an Argu- ment, which proves the Obligation of obeying blindly " all Bilhops elected with the ufual For- " malities," or it proves nothing. In his ' Anfwer to a Letter of i'7or^?Jt Puphn, a Bilhop of ^/rzVa, *' He ^ equals the BiJIwps with the Apojllcs^ avd main- *' talm, that it n injupportable hjoleiice to pretend " to judge of them : That Pup.an in particidar was ** an inj'olent Fellow, torefiife to acknowledge Cypriaii *' for a lawful Bilhop, till he had been convinced in his " Judgment of the Legality of his EleBion^ Jince it ' ^ would follow from thence, that for the Six Tears that " he had been a Bipop, he had vo Right to adminijier " any Sacraynent^ or grant Abfolution to fuch as he had *' granted it to. Thus the Salvation of the People *' depended on the Validit}'- ot the Election of a *' Bilhop-, and the Validity of that Election de-

" pended on the Hnlinefs of the Bilhop

" Monftrous Principle, which makes the Salv^- " tion of Chriftians fo uncertain, and renders " ufelefs the Virtue of the People, with all which " they were to be damned, if the Bilhop was not *' a good Man, and if he had been irregularly " elecfed/'

^ Lactantius pretends, that a truly good Man ought not to bear Arms, or trade with any Fo- reign Countries. He abiblutely condemns Ufury, and looks upon it as a kind of Rnbbe^3^ He carries beyond all Bounds the " Obligation of Chriftian Patience. He ^ maintains, that we ought to accufe no Man of a Crime puniihable ivith

Death ^

' Ep 66.

f Bibl. Univ. I!>. p. 332, 533.

^ Inftit. Divin. cap. 17. J. y. cap. 20. I. 6. c. 18,

^- See PulTend. de J. N. & G. 1. 2. c. j. § 14.

" L. 6. c. 20.

Death •, and treats fuch an Action as Murder, without Diftindtion in any Cafe.

" There are ^ very few Principles of Morality *' in Athanjijiiis ^ and thofe you meet with there, *' excepting what regards the Flight of Per- " fecution, Epifcopacy, and the Defence of the " Truth, are not fo tuUy handled as they might " be. " This is the Opinion of a Roman Catho- lic Writer ^ who likewife owns that the IvJlruBiom y of St. Cyril, are mittejt in Hajl^ and without much Care.

' SiUnf^ B ASiL, furnam'd the Great, holds, that he that gives atwthev a mortal Woitrd, is guilty of Mur- der, whether he attacked the Perfon, or did it in Self- Defevce. He declares, that it » is better to part thofe that have committed Fornication., than to 7«jr- ry them together ^ but thai never thelefs, if they will marry, they jimuld not be hinder d, for fear a greater Evil fiould happen. In the Celebrated Letter to St. Gregory, in which he lays down Rules for a Alonaftic Life, there is one for the Regulation ^ of the Behaviour of Monks, which appears di- rectly contrary to that of Jefus Chrifl in the Gof- pel, {Matth. 6. l6, 17.) for this Father fays that the Humility of the Solitary JJ)ould appear in all his Behaviour -, that he JJmuld have the Eye fad., and look- ing down on the Earth-, his Hair difcompos'd, his Garment najly and tattered. In the little Treatife of reading •= the Greek Jf^riters with Profit, I find two or three very extravagant Maxims. He pretends

that

'■ Dii Pin Ribl. des Aur. Fxclef. Tom. 2. p. 5-4. ' lb. p. 145.

* II). p. 179. ex Epift. 2. ai! Araphilorh. Can. 4-

* Can 16.

'' Ril)l. Univ. T.Tm. 77. p. 412, 415.

' Homil. de legend. CJrsc. p.r. 7. td. Oxon. 1594.

that it is unlawful for Chriftians ever to go to Law. He feems to ^ underftand literally thefe proverbial Words of Jefus Chriji -, If any one Jirike you on the right Cheek, turn to hhn alfo the left : And he finds that Socrates did fomething very like that, which is there commanded, when he pa-, tiently endur'd a fevere Banging from an info- lent Fellow, that was enrag'd againft him. He believes, that it is ^ never lawful to fwear ^ and thereupon propofes the Example of a Pythagorean, who chole rather to loofe three hundred Talents,> that is, about eighteen hundred Crowns, than take an Oath, though he could have done it with a fafe Confcience.

Gregory ^of Nazianzum, writes with- out much Order. — — His Style is excejjively full of

Metaphors, very iJicorreB^ and fojnetimes harjij.

*' He g runs out againft the Boldnefs of the Arians, " and Macedonians, who were at leaft as numerous " as the Orthodox, and had the Impudence to " meet together, and form Churches •, horrible At- " tempt after the Decifion of a Council, fo or-> *' derly as that which had been ^ juft then held ! " Gregory could not underftand how his Holinefs " and his Gravity (this was the Manner of treat- *' ing Billiops in thofe Days ^ Gregory was writ- " ing to NeBarim) could fuffer the Apollinarijis

" to meet together. ■ He thought, for what

" Reafon I can't imagine, that allowing thofe " People to meet together, was granting them " that their Doctrine was truer than that of the

" Council,

* lb. par. 1 3.

* I'ad.

' See hit Life by Mr, le Clerc. Bibl. Univ. Tom. 18. p, 23.

^ IMd p. 1 1 4. II ^.

»■ TheCouncilof Conllaiuinoplet

(M )

" Council, fince there could not be two Truths 5 as " if the tolerating of any one, was fignifying our *' AlTent to the Truth of his Opinions ! Laftly " he exhorts Ne^arhis^ to reprcfent to the Em- *' perour, that that which he had done in Fai'our " of the Church, would be of no Service, if the " Hereticks ihould be allow'd to afTemble toge- *' then Thus honeft Gregory, who, whilft the *' Ar'iam were moft powerful, having the Em- *' peronr of their Side, was againll doing thet " which he blam'd in them, advis'd his Suc- " cefTour to forget that wholefome Leflbn. " When the Emperour Julian, added Infult to his ill Treatment of the Chriftians, and defpoil'd them of their Goods, telling them he only helped 'em to obferve the Gofpel, which commands them to defpife Riches, " • Gr^^orji anfwers this, among ** other Things, that Julian, by ufing 'em after " that Manner, mufl needs think that the Gods " of the Pagans^ were pleas'd to fee People plun- *' der'd, though they bad deferv'd no fuchUfagc; *' and fo of Confequence approve of Injuftice. *' He might have been contented with this An- " fwer, but he adds that there are fome Things, " which Jefm Chrijf has commanded as neccflary, ** and other Things, which he has propos'd fim- '■' ply, for fuch as are willing to obferve them, *' without laying any one under an indifpenfa- " ble Obligation of doing it. Such, according to *■ G^e^ory, is the Command to forfake the Things " of this Life." By which we fee that he fup- pofes a pretended Advice, to abandon ones Eftate, ^^'hcn \VQ have no particular Reafon for fo doing; Whereas it is a real Commandment, but which

£ is

' IbiJ. p. 4j, tfd.

{16)

. is. incumbent on us, only when we can't prcferve our Goods, without breaking in upon our Duty, and violating feme Maxim ot the Golpel.

Sahit '^Ambrose carries the Efteem of Virgi- nity, and Celibacy lb tar, that he feems to re- gard Matrimony as an indecent Thing. He fays .. -k very plainly, that, hefo-ic the Law oj Mofes, avd ■.'that of the Gofpel, Adidteiy wai mt for bidden. If he be loofe upon this Head, he feems too r"gid upon another, J mean, upon lending "^ Money to Ufury, which he condemns abfolutel}'-, without any Exception. The TreatTe of Offices is a Book which he wrote to teach Ecclefiafticks their Duty. . Although " the Name of Minillers, is Jiruck out of the Roman Editiofi, and thefollowivg ones, it is found iii all the Manufcripts, and it is plain by the Work itfelf^ that St. A M B R o s E. wrote it for the Ecclefajiich. But though he addreffes himfelf to the7n^ he Ukewife treats of the Duties oj all Ch ijfians, of which he makes a.paitictdar Application to Ecckfajlicks. We fee by the little, and the Manner in which he treats his Subject, that he delign'd to imitate Cicero's Offices. But notwithflandijig wliat has been f id, by a ° Lutheran Divine, who publilh'd this Work at Jfirt^mbejj, in the Year 1698, with fome Dif- fertations of his own? if we except the particu- lar Principles of the Gofpel, whi( h St. Ambrose has fcatter'd about in this Work, with the Ex- amples and PafTages of Hcl}' Scripture, which he

perpe-

^ De Inditur. Virgin. Si raflim alibi. Ste Dall. c'e Ufu P.i- tnim, p. 27a.

' lAh. t. tie P^triarcli. Abr'.ili. cap. 4. See DaW. ubi Suj'ra. Mr.H.iyk, D.ft. Tom. 3. p. 167c. Knr.

'■•' D3 Tob-ta c. 3. &'iT- See M. Nnotlt de Toen. & LTorig I. I. c. 4. c. 10. p. 64. & fe<]. and du FiU, T. 2. p 2j6.

" Du Pin, T. 2. p. 777,25^.

° Fo) tfchius Profefi>ur.

perpetually cites, but generally very ill apply'd j I doii't ftick to fay, that the Copy is infinitely . below the Original, whether you confider the . Purity and Laiinefs of the Style, or the Compo-^ lition of the Work ;, and the (Jrder of the T-hings contain'd in it, or the Solidity ot" the Thoughts, and Jultnefs of the Rcafoning : For Example, fee here the Contents of the Fhjl Rook. After a Kind of a Preface upon the Queftion, wheyi atii in what Marnier it is proper to /peak cr hold ones Tongue -^ he enters upon his Subject, in the 8th ■ Chapter, with fome Grammatical Remarks, which have no Foundation. In the loth Chapter, he treats of good ^ Breeding, the firft Part of which he makes to confift in the Ait of gcvermvg eves Tongues ', in the nth Chapter, he diftinguifhes tvv^3 Sorts of Duties, the Middle, ?.nd the PerfeS. He places in the Rank of the laft, the Love of our Enemies, Prayers for fuch as caluniinate us, or injure us in any other Manner, and the Works of Mercy. The 12th and following Chapters, to the T7th, turn upon the Subjcd of Providence, which he endeavours toeflablifh and defend, the beft he can, ae^ainft: the Murmurings of fuch as are expos'd in this World to great Afflidlions, and agajnil: the Objedions of Libertines and wicked Men. In the 17th and following Chapters, hq treats of the Duties of Youth. Having fpoken occaflonally at the End of the 24th Chapter, of the four Cardinal Vertues, Pnidevce, Juflice, For- titude, and Tewperajrce, he begins his Difcourfe up- on them, but very ilightly, in the 2')th Chapter, where finding himfelf the Diforder of his Dif- coorfe, he attempts to excufc, or rather juflify it in thefe Words.

E 2 f Perhaps

? Mr. du Pin ow«j tt in the thore <tted Place,

( 12 )

Ferbaps it '^ mil he faid, that we ought to have be- gun our Difcourfe^ with this Siibjed^ Jince from thefe four VertueSf fpi'i^g ike diferejit Soits of Obligations : But that would have heen^ to covfovm to the Rules of Arty accordivg to which we ought at frjl to have de- fnd the Obligation, and afterwards divided it into the different Sorts Bid we have dejignedly avoided tying ourfelves up to thefe Rides : Ue are content with p;o- pojing Examples^ taken from the Condu^I of our Jv- cefiors -J that which is not difficult to he underjhcd, and does 7Wt require the Subtleties of a methodical U'l iter. In the 28th Chapter, he very prepoiieroully at- tempts to fhew, the Falfit}?- of two of the Fun- ftions which Cicero attributes to Juft ce •, and this is not the only PaiTage where he critic zes without Reafon, on the Pagan Philofophers, by miC tailing their Sentiments, or refuting Things that are moil indifputable. Towards the End of this ftrft Book, he returns to the Ecclefiafticks, whofe principal Vertues he defcribes, and ends with a Difcourfe of the Sacrednefs of a TjuJI. He does not begin his Difcourfe of Blejfednefs till he comes to. the Beginning of the 2d Book. The fame Con- fufion and want of Method runs through the whole Work. He maintains that a '' Chrijfian ought VDt to fght again]} a Robber who attacks him, and lays it down as a general Maxim, that it is never lawful to preferve ones Life, by occaf oiling the Death of another. He likewile lays it down as a gene- ral Rule, that 07te cannot lawfully do a Thing which IS not ^ exprefly aUcw'd and aitthorixd by the Scrip- ture-^ and on this Principle, he abfolutely forbids the Ecdefiafticks,. all Sorts of Raillery. It is not

* I. I. cap. 25. Iiiir.

*-Dn-PrTT, p. 267. Ambraf. I. 5. e 4.

^ L. I. c. 2.3. S«f Ritb*yiiC du _feu, I. i. c, 3. $. 5.

( i9 )

to be wonder'd at that he condemns ( L. i. Cap. 50) fecond Marriages : Divers others were of the lame Opinion, as we have already obferv'd, be- fore his Time.

Saivt C H R I s o s T o M treating of Ufury, gives « into very extravagant Opinions, as divers other Fathers had done. The fame Doctor, fpeaking oi the Expedient " Abraham us'd lor the fecond Time, when he was afraid of being kill'd, it" it fhould be known that he was the Huiband of Sarah ^ makes no Ditf.culty of telling his Audi- tors : " Toil "■" kv.otp very well^ that nothing makes a Hus- '' ha-tid more tiveafy, than to fee his Wife fifpt&ed of " havivii, been in the Fewer of another ^ and yet, ^ tlm " juji Man does all hepojfibly can, that the Ah of Add- *' tei y may be compleated. — He afterw^^rds highly ei- " tols his Courage and Prudence. — Then heexcufes ** him for having confented to his Wife's Adul- " tery, upon this Account, namely, that Death, " which had not as yet been defpoil'd of his Ty- " ranny, did at that Time infpire great Terrour- " After this Elogium of the Hufband, he paffes *' to the Praifes of the Wife, and fays, that fhe *' heajtily accepted the Propofal, and did all Ihc *' could to play her y Part well in the Comedy. " Thereupon he exhorts Wives to imitate her *' in this, and cries nut : Who can help admirivg

this great Forwardvefs of hers to obey ^ IfHyo can " ftifficievtly commend Sarah, for that after fuch Con- *'' tinence. and at her Age, jhe was villing to fubrmt " to ^ Adultery^ and deliver vp her Body to Barba- rians.

* Ste M. Noodt de Foen, & Ufnris, J. 1. 1.4 & fi. ^ Ciciipf cap. 20.

" V)i!is taltnfrom Bayk's DUlion. in thtArtk'g Abimekch. Note A.

" Homil. 32 in Gencf. y Il)id.

* Ibid.

r 3° ) _

*' rians, in Order tojaveber Htijhaitd's Life ^ St. ^Ain- ^' brofe is no lefs lavilh of his Prailes of Sarah\ *' Charity^ ai:d St. Avgujiin fell into near the " fame Illiifion (in realbning upon another F.xam- *' pie. 0 It is a very ftrange Thing, x\\3.tthef^ " great Lights of the Churchy with all their Vertiie, *' and all their Zeal, fhould not know that it " is not lawful to fave ones own Lite, nor that ''^ of another, by committing a Crime. "

St. Jerome is ^ every ivhere exclaijjiing agaivj} Marriage in General, and fecond Marriages in Par- ticidar, and his hive&ives arefo bitter, a?idfjdl of Rage^ that with all the Softenings in the If arid, one cannot avoid perceiving, in "^ what he fays upon that Head, an entire Coyformity with the Scntiinents of TertuUian, vhich were condemn d by the Church as injurious to the Honour of Marriage, and contrary to the Holy Scrip- ture. " He condemns ^ all Oaths without = Ex- " ception. He ^ forbids Chrillians, to pa}^ Tri- " bute to infidel Princes. He advifes s and ap- " proves the Action of thofe, who kill them- " felves for fear of lofing th^ir Chaftity. He " often fpeaks of Virginity, and the monaftic " Life, after a Manner which would almofl make *' one think it l^cceflary to Salvation. Labour, " Faftings, Aufterities, and other Mortifications, " Solitude, and Pilgrimages, are the Subject of

" almoft

^ De Abraham, I. i- c i.

* See Bayles Diifl. A.rr. Acindj'nws.

'" Theft are the Words of D^ll■ fie U Hi Pitriim, p 276. "^ Epift. ad Parnmachj and efewhtre. ^ Du Pin, Tom. 3. p. 136.

* Comm. in March, c. 5. and Ttichir. c. i.

* Tn Matth. c. 7. T In Jon^vm.

(3' )

*' almofl all his Counlels, and Eihortations. " He gives ^ us to underftanj plainly enough, that Jefiis 'Chnji has aboiifh'd the PermifTion to eat the FlejJ} of Anhnah^ in the fame Manner as he has abolilh'd Divorce and Circumcifion. It is well known with what Fury and Knavery, he run out againft Vigihvths, who had written againfl the Worlnip, winch at that Time began to be paid to the Relicks of Saints and Martyrs, and againft divers other Pradtices, which the follow- ing Times have but too much (hewn the bad GDnfequences of. The little Treatife of Jeroms^ agamft that Pricft is full of grofs fcandalous Ri- fledtions, and falfe Reafonings, which tend to render ^ odious to the Populace, an Adverfary whom he could not refute by good Arguments.

(St. AuGusTiN endeavouring to make an * Apology, for Abrahayus Complaifance for his Wife, with Regard to Agar, pretends that a Wife may yield to another Woman, the Right flie has to the Body of her Hufl)and ^ and that the Hufband may likewife transfer to another Man, the Right he has to his Wife's Body : And which is more ftrange, he founds this Paradox upon a ■" mill:aken PafTage of St. Paul. This Father dares to main- tain, that by the Divine Law, all Things be- long to the Juft, or ^ Faithful, and that Infidels

have

'• Dall. de Ufu Pntmm.

' I,. I. adv. Joviii. this Pajf.tge is cited in the car.cn Law^ Dift. gy, can. 2,

•« Set M. le C Icre's Difffrtir. ^t the End rf his Logick^ er.titled de Arjeiim. Thcol. aI imidia dudto.

' De Civir. Dei, I. 16, c. 25-.

" I Corinth. 7, 4.

" Epift. 173. Tom. 1- Edir. Rrned'flin. S"'* Rayl>*s Phi- Jofoph Commenc. on theft Werdf^Csmyei them tt t»mt m. P^rr. 1, p. 130. 2t feq. ■*

C 3^ ^

have no Right to what they PoITefs : An abo- minable Principle, and which overturns all hu- mane Society. But lee here another, wh;ch is not lefs odious, and which a/o7/(? would exUemely "^ fiaht the Mernmy of the Bijhp of Hippo ^ it is this, that after having been for Gentlenefs and Moderation, ai to the Treatment to be objeivd towards Heretich ; the Difpiites rvhichhe had with the Donatifls/o heated him. that he chan^d from White to Bbck, aw J main- taiiid openly, that Heretich ought to be perfeaited, ami fmcd to embrace the Oithodcx Faith, or elfe to be quite rooted out, which is a very terrible and i7jhuman Opinion ^ as has been remark d by a celebrated Minilter of the Reform d Perfuafion. Every Body may read in French two r Letters of this Father, which were made ufe of to juftifie the lafl: Per- fecution in France •, and it may with Jnftice be faid that St. /lugufiin is, in fome Sort, the great Patriaich of Chrillian Perfecutors. Let us well obfervethis Example, for it does not ftop with the Bifhopof Hippo, and he alone gives us a very fenfible Proof of the Manner in which the Chri- i\\an Dodors have neglecfed. or rather di'^fgurd and corrupted Morality. If ever there was any Maxim, contrary to all the Lights of good Senfe, natti- ral Equity, Charity, good Politicks, and the Spi- rit of the Gofpel, it is (without Difpute) this de- reftable Opinion o{ Conftraint and Perfecution, for the Sake of Religion. Neverthelefs, ever fiftce the Church began to enjo}'" Repofe and Qiiiet, this has been the common Opinion, which in after Times was ordinarily reduced into Pradice

by

° John eland, t-err. at the End of his Uook entitl'd V Ouver- ture de 1' Ep. ai7x, Rtm. p. no.

r See tJ>e ^d Part of R^yls's Phllof, Comment, and the ^d Ftl. o/Ie Clare's ArsCricicaj p. Sfj.

hy the ftroneen: Party, with regard to the weakelr. 'Ihe Cuiies are lull rf Penal "^ Laws, again 11 Sc61:s that dihered horn the prevailing one ^ and they weie ' Couvijb, Bijh(.ps, avd the moil evnvent Dolors ^ who either pJiiched the Pi c}:uilgatir.v of thefe Larrsy or hovoined nith hi^h Elo^iiivis^ AccLnnatiom^ BeJie- di^iotiS) avd vmft humble ih.irhfvivhgs, the Sovet eigvs thjt kid nude tbefc Laivs.^ or that executed them with ll^vur.

St. Lko in the Opinion of Mr. ^du Viii, does not much aboinid n>hh Puir.ts of Mnr.dity ^ he ti ejts them vei) diyly. and after a Mamiei that diveits^ ra- ther than rffc8s.

In the 1 ime of Thcodofus the Tovi^^er, theBifhop of Svfi a Ruyal City ot Ferfa, whofe Name was Abdtif (or rather.^^iftijj took the Liberty to burn one of the Temples, in which Divine Worlhip was paid to »ihe Fire. The King (his Name was Ifdd- gerdes) being informed of it, fent for Abdaa, and after a very gentle Cenfure, ordered him to caufe the i'emple to be rebuilt, which he had deftroy- ed. But the Bifnop would do nothing towards it, notwithibndirg the Kii^.g threatened Reprifals on the Churches of the Chriltians :, which he adually 1^1 1 in Lxccution, upon the obflinate Refufal of Abdaa, who choie rather to lofe his Life, and ex- pofe the (>hiiftians to a furious Perfecution, than obey fo luft and equitable an Order. ^ Theodoiet^ who relates this Hillorv, does not deny that the

F Zeal

1 Sit Bi'. Univ. T. 23. p. 366. & feq. ard M. Bernard Nouv. cle la Rep. rie Lerrr. May, 1699. y. 774, 77^1 '»"<' April 17021 p. 409. and HupfUm. to FbuoJ. CoTHm. c. 29, 30, Jl*

' Ibid. p. 37T1 376. Tliom.tlin de rUnite de I'Eglifc.

* T. 4- p 164.

' See le Clerc Bibl. Choifie Tom. 8. p. 321, & fto.

^ Hift. Eccl. 1. 5. c. 59.

( 34 )

Zeal which led Abdcia to burn the Temple of the

Peyjiaiis, was unfeafonable ^ but he maintains that

his Rehifal to rebuild fuch a Temple was an In-

ftance of Conftanc}?- deferving Adnnration, and a

Crown: For, adds he, it is as great an Impiety

to build a Temple to the ^Ire, as to woiliiip the

Fire. " ^ But there are no private Perfons, be they

Metropolitans or Patriarchs who can ever dif-

" peiTe with this Law of Natural Religion ; Qve

ought to repuir by Rcjlitiit'iGn^ or cthan^ife, the

Damage rrhiih cr.e dees to his Neighhoiir .hu\.Ab-

dti^^ a m.eer private Perfon, and Subject ot the

*' King of Pi?;/fr, had ruined the Goods of another,

" and the Goods of another fo much the morepri-

*• vileged, in that they belonged tu the iidabliihed

*' Religion. And it was a very fnrry Excufe

" to fay, That the Temple which he was to have " rebuilt, would have ftrved for Idolatr}^ ^ for it *' would not have been he that would have put " it to that Ufe ; and he would not have been ac- " countable for the Abnfe which the Owners might ** h.U'^e made of it. Would this be a valid Realon " why a Man fhould not reftore a Purfe which " he had robbed another of, to fay. That he is a

" Man who fpends his Mone}/- in Debauchery -'

" Befides this, what Comparifon is there between " the Building of a Temple, without which the " Perjta7is would not have ceaied to be as much " Idolaters as before, and the Deftrudcion of feve-

" ral Chriftian Churches ? In fliort, what

*' was more likely to render the Chriftian Reli- " gion odious to all Mankind, than to fee that *' after they had infinuated it upon the Foot of " People that only defired to propofe their

" Doftrine,

' Bayle*J Vi^.Art. AWas Remark C. p. 5. Eclir. 2.

( 30

*' Do£tiine, they had the Impudence to demolifli " the Temples ot the Religion of the Country, " and to refufe to rebuild them, when the Sove- " reign commanded it" ? But thofe Bifhops rea- foned upon Principles equally contriry to the Gofpel, and the Law ot Nature ^ in wh.ch, how- ever, they did but imitate the Maxims '^ and Con- dud ot St. Ambvoj'e^ upon a very like Occafion.

Gregory the Great, according to Mr. <= du Pht, is tedious, avdfotnetimes too prolix in his Explications

of Morality^ avd too fubtile in his Allegories. —

His Morals^ or Commentaries vpen Job, are one of the greattjl ^ Rcpcitories of Alorality that is extant. But he Jcarce ever " jlops at the Explication of the Letter : He continually applies Moral Reflexions and JlUgniics to the Text 0/ Job, the greateft Part of which might as well be applied to any other Paflage of Scripture.

What has been faid is, in my Opinion, more than is necelTary to fhew clearly, that the moft celebrated Dodors of the Church, for the firfl Six Centuries, are very bad Mafters, and poor Guides in Matters of Morality. We faid the fame Six Years ago, when his Preface firfl faw the Light, and we don't retrad it now we are publifhing it a new, after a fecond Review. The Intereft of Truth, which ought to outweigh all other Confi- derations but that of laying any Stumbling-Block in the Way of its Eftablilhment ^ the Eafe with which Abundance of People are dazled by great Names, and by the Prejudice of Antiquity, efpe-

F 2 cially

•' See the F^tfl related mtJ) all its necejfary Circttm/iancet and Beflefltons in f/;e Crir. Gen. de I'Hift. Ju Calv, de Mdimboujg, T. 2. I et. 50. p- i7T5 &c.

' Tom. y. p. 144.

* lUid. p. 154

f Ibid. p. 13$.

dally Ecclefiallical Antiquity ^ the inexprcfuble Injury which this b'nid Kefped caufes to the Knowledge ot the true Religion, and ibund Mo- ralii}' ^ the Honour or ihc ge we live in, wh ch, more than all the pnA: Ages has Ihr.ok otf the Yoke of an Autlioiiry deftituteot Arguments-, the Cancjour and Sincerity of uhich we make a Pio- feihon •, all thefe Things rcquiie us to jpenk 1 hiugs as tliey are in themlelvts, and to ju.jge oi: thtic Dodors who liave been dead tor Icvtral Ages, with theiaiTicDifinterefTedners and the fame Liber- ty which we ihould do of an Author dead inc lali Century, and whofe Reputation was entirely in- diiierent tous. As good Protellants we may, nnd ought to fpeak boldly, without puttii.ig our felvcs much in Pain wliat nia}- be fa id or thought by thofe who think themfelves concerned to declare their Jealouly of the Houcur ol the Fathers, ai:d great Admirers of all their Produdions, fo far as to facrifice to them the moft common Rules ot good Senfe, which the37- would be very une.;fy not to make Ujc of in other Affairs, They are unfortunate in being under this dire Kecelfity of judging fo differently of the fame Things, accord- ing as they come from the Pen of a profane Au- thor, an tcckfiafcical, an Ancient, or a Modern. We don t even doubt but there are fome, who do themfelves Violence on this Head, and who, though they talk like other People, don't think from the Bottom of their Hearts fo advantag^oufl}'' as ore woii'd irtiagine, of the pcrlbnal Qiialities ^.r.d Writings of the ancient Doctors, who have made mofl: Noife in the Church. Jt wou'd be inhuman to infult thofe who live thus under perpetual Conftraint, and we are forry for it v/ith all our Heart, provided they don't fcek, or don't embrace without Neceffity the Occafion of betraying their

Sentiments.

( 37 )

Fcntinicnts. But it is veiy hard to fit down eaf/, u'hcn one ices that People, who have here a full Liberty of thinking and fpcaking as they think right, and whcle grand Principle is, or ought to be, th.t the Hol}'^ ^ciipture is the fole Rule of our Faith and Manners^ that thefe People, I fay, lake the Pa t of the Fathers with fo much warmth, and not content to be obftinately bent upon the Support cif this xdJlbleRcmnant of Popery, endeavour at any rate to lay others under the lame Yoke, are tiit ot all Pafence with fuch as Inewa lefs elevated Notion of the Fathers than that which they ha\ e tormed to themfelves, and in- veigh molf bitterl}'- againft the Living, to revenge the Dead, to wh(^fe Memorv no other Injury is dr nc, than that ot not admiring blindly their falfe Sentiments, and fhametulCondnd:.

Certainly fuch as being born in, or having gone over to the Partv of the Proteftants, dare declare '»fhemf( Ives f"» great Zealots and idolatrous Partifans of fcclefiartical Antiquity, did not well confider Thinps, when they engaged in the Support of fo b'id a Canfe: If they refledt upon it, they plainly feit can never turn to their Honour. This ap- pears fufficiently irom the Extremities to which they are reduced, not to let go their Hold, They perpetually change the State of the Queftion, thev contra'^idt themfelves ever}'- Moment : They don't d:tre fay in fo many Words, that the Fathers were m fallible, nor that they never fell into very {jroft; Miftakes ^ and )ret they reafon as if they b' li' ved it, and would have others believe fo;, t^^Y build almofl- always upon this tacit Suppofi- tion -, thev confefs in one Place, that which they have denied in others, and fometimes more than is reo'iired. In a Word, they fo behave them- feVe*; as to gi\e ground to believe, that by much reading and admiring the Fathers, they ac-

quirq

quire a Turn of Mind much like to theirs ; by which they fuinilh us thenilelves with a new Reaibn and evident Proof of the Judgment we pais upon thele ancient Authors, the Reading of whom produces fuch ill ElFcds ^ infomuch that by attempting to reilore them to the too high E- fteem, which Ignorance and Superftition had ob- tamed for them, they in Reality decry em more than could or would thofe who believe they have, juft Reaibn to contemn them on divers Ac- counts.

Mor onlyfo, but they alfo im:tate their Paifions, which difcover themfelves but too plainly in that which is come down to our Times of the Writings of the Fathers, and their Lives. To be in no- thing behind their Malters, to Declamation, falfe Reaibnings, a manifeft Ignorance of Criticifm and Morality, to the Contempt of Order and of Me- thod, they join Rage and Invectives. They copy them fo exactly that they become themfelves vet ry great Models : Reproaches run from the Source, and we muft do 'em the Juftice to own, that in this at leaft they fliew a great Genius.

Mortified to fee, that without being obliged to fearch long, or take much pains, divers Authors have given us a great Number of Examples of the falfe Keafonings and grofs Midakes, which are to be m r with in the Works of the Fathers, infl:ead of attempting ro lliew foberly and by good Reafons, that the PafTages cited cont in nothing but what's true and well thought of, which would be a fure and honourable Way of defending thefd- ancient Doctors, whom they have taken under their Proteaion : Inftead of this, I fay, they con- tent themfelves with crying out, with haughty Scorn, That k k the Faft)iofi now a Days to attack ^hi Fathers, th^t hnorance thinks to recommend itfilf

( 39 ;

h) tins If ay ^ that fiicb (is rife up agahifr than, do it mth little Jiidgmevt and Knowledge. In which they theniielvcs ihevv buL little Judgment, lince the Quellion her-:' is no ways concerning that vail Eru- d.tion upon which thty i'o highly value them- felvcs. It is not neceflary toimclerftand all the Languages ancient and modern, nor to have read all rjie fathers from Beginning to End : In ordef toJLicige or their Merit one need do little elfe, but take any Father you will, and open the Book, either in the Original, or in the great Number of Tranilalions that have appeared, fhere are even whole Books, that are but a continued Thread of Lowneffes heaped one upon the other, as tor Ex- ample, St. Aiigujlhis ** Coimmntaiy upon the Pfalms. We likewife find in the Collections ot Sermons, in the Books of Devotion, in the Commentaries up- on the scripture, publifhed in the Vulgar Tongue, an infinite Kumber of Blunders and Stuff of the Fathers, which their moft zealous Admirers re- tale, as the Flower and Choice of fine and judi- cious Thoughts which they have obferved in read- ing their Works. Thus all may judge now, with Knowledge of the Caufe, whether the Fathers de- ferve the f'logiums given them, and the Warmth with which fome undertake to defend them. A fmall Share of natural good Senfe is fufficient, and never was the Reproach of Ignorano:^ lefs to the Purpofe, or worfc placed. It is true, that fuch as bring fuch a loofe difhoneft: Accuiiition, feem to have engroffed to themfelves all the good Senfe, as well as all the Learning in the World : One would imagine, the}^ would not leave one Spark of it to any one that does not enter into all theic

Notions,

f" See the Judgment of Mr. du Pin, Bibi, des Auteurt Ecclef. ^c.

( 40 )

Kotions, or rather ii]to all their Prejudices, into all their Pailloiis, and all their Cabals. That which might make one fuipect ihis, is, that there are among them fome who are more civil and modeft, than publickly to call it Impudej:ce. For People to take the Liberty to think and ipeak otherw.fe than they and the Fathers thmk and fpeak, even upon Subjects where one does but follow the common ( 'pnnon of Pro'.eltants, as, upon the Lawtulnefs ol Uiury, to loc^k down up- on them in Compaliun, from the Height ot their Underll:anding ^ as People who, without any Tindure ot Learning, ^.ttempt to fig^alize them- felves at the l-.ipei.ce of almoft all the fame us Authors of the p--.li Ages^ fuch as dare niodefliy declare, that they have not fo h;gh an Opinion as thefe Peopled St Aiigujlhi or ^t..Jeio7n -^ ana to give themfelves tacitly thelitle ol great Authc is,whioh a confuted hafiy reading d abundance of Books, good or bad, has without doubt merited for them, and which the World will never en v}'' them.

But that which fills up the Mcafu'e of Blind- nefs and Pafiion : Our bigotted Champions ol tlie Fathers don t flop at the Reproach of Ignorance ^ the}'' draw into the Qirtrrel, befldes, eithei dinffe- ly or indiredfly, the Probity and the Religi n of fuch as openly tell both the good and the bad, with refpect to the Lives and Writings of the i-c- cleflafiicks and Divines of the firft Ages, and wno believe that they were not more infallible, either in their Lives, or their Doctrine, than the hccie- iiafticks and Divines of the prefent Times One of them dares affirm, without ar.y Difgufe, that we (l)oiiUhcive aVeticraUoyifor the Fathers^ if we b^d a true Zeal for Chiijiiavityx another, his f ithf'll Eccho, That the Cayttempt of the Fathei j cai r'lcd Men the greateji Lengths (thus it is he calls the Freedom

wii.h

(4' )

with v/hich Men judge of the Fathers, vvithcut jnterefting themfeives in their Reputation, but as far as Truth and tquity allow) that this Ccvteyr.pt lepcls up(ni the Ckiiji'un Relij^iuv. If the ih}ijiia7i keli^iov. adds he, h.ui iiotfor Propjgators^ Alejitntly pkvs avd Lnoreivg, 7/ h.it Qphiiun ought one to huvo of it ^ ■

I acknowledge, that if Reafor.s u-h'ch only tend to render odious the Opinion and Ferfon of an Advcrfal3^ were good Arguments, this would be one of the belt that was ever invented. All that is in it n^uy be eafilv retorted. It iriUfl necelFarily be, fay you, that the Fathers, whom you regard as the Propagators of the Chrillian Religion, were Men truly pious and knov/ing. But it has been afferted, and prr.v'd by a great Number of Ex- amplts, that the Fathers have not only fallen into vet}'' grofs terrors, and been very ignorant ot abundtsrice of Thi)igs •, but that they have like- wife fafrcrM themfelves, for the moft part, to be led, more or lefs, by Paifion and Humour, and that there has frequently been a good deal of Ir- regularit)' and Obliquity in their Conduct. Yoii do not at all overthrow this, you don't give your felves the Trouble to refute the Examples and Fadh propofed to you, ^^m pafs Sentence of Con- demnation upon that Head. Therefore you ta- citly conl't-fs, that the Chriftian Religion is of no Value : You are a fccret Aiheift or Deift, who, under a fa Ife Pretence of maintaining the Interefts of Chriftianity, by vindicating the Honour of thole whom )'ou reg?.rd as the Propogators of it, labour privil}'- to overthrow Religion itfelf It is very prett)^ indeed, for you to fet up for a Zealot ior Oithc>doxy. rr the rtccivcd Opinions, which you defend only by odious Parallels, and malici- ous ill-natured Rcfit^icns: Very pretty, for yoii

G to

( 4^ )

to fathom the Depths of God, employ all the Subtilty of your Wit to explain them, and flatter 3'Our felf with having found out new Solutions of the great Difticiilties which in all Times have been raifedon the (JrigineofEvil: Notwithllanding all tliis, if it be allov/able to argue aKtcr the Manner you do, againfi: thole who do not efteem tlie Fa- thers enough for you, one would be ready to in- fer, even trom your own Reafoning, fome ill Defign you have againft the Religion, which 3'ou icem to eiigage for in this Difpute.

Heic aliqiiis latet error : Equo iie cred'ite Teuai.

I leave it to judicious and difintercffed Perions to judge, whether the Conftquence be not at leafl: as well drawn on this Side, as on the other.

However, we (hall forbear ufing fuch Weapons : We freely leave them to fuch as have no better, and we have Charit}'- enough to believe that this Action of theirs is no more than Imprudence. Blinded by Prepoffeifion and PalFion, doubtlefs they did not perceive the Advantage they gave both againft themfelves and tlie (^hriltian Reli- ' gion, by an Argument that appeared to tliem forcible, decifive, and proper to fave the Trouble of examining Things to the Bottom, and to throw Dufl: in Peoples Eyes. But to undeceive them, if it be polfible, and to hinder, at leaft, the Simple, or fuch as won't give themfelves the Trouble to learn to diftinguifh good Realonings from forry ones, from being dazzled with this, let us lliew a little the Weaknefs of it.

I obferve, in the firft Place, that thofe that can be properly called the Propagators of the Chrijlian Religion, are the Apoftles, on whom the Holy Ghofl had conferred the Gift of Miracles,

and

( 43 )

*nnd * guUcd hito all Truth, concerning Jefm Chrljl and his Doctrine. Thefe Holy Men ^gained D'lf- ciples amovg all Natiom, according to the command they had received horn their Mafter. St. Paid, who valued himfelf upon preaching the Gofpel in thofe Places only where Jefiis Chrijl wai not named, ' leaft he Jlmidd build upon another Mans Foundation, declares exprell3% f/^it /row; Jerufalem, '^'^ and round about unto Ill^'-ricum, he had fully preached the Gofpel of Chrijl^ that is to " fay, through a great Part of J.he Roman Empire. Tradition has preferv'd in the Indies, ° and among other barbarous People, the Memory of the Travels and Miracles of St. TJjojnas, St. Andrew, and other Apofties. Thus the imme- diate Difciples of our Lord, filled with his Spirit, and armed with his Power, planted the Chriftian Faith in almod all the World ; they laid the im- pregnable Foundation of this great Work, either by themfelves, or by Means of fome Apoftolick Men, to whom they communicated the Gift of Miracles : And the ordinary Minifters of the Gofpel, who fucceeded them, but without any ex- traordinary Power, and with an ivfinitely lefs Authority, had nothing to do but to cultivate the deep Seeds which the Apofties had fpread Abroad in all Parts, for the Projiagation of Chriftianity, and which, by their own Virtue, aided by the Care of Provi- dence, will always produce Fruit to the End of Time, whatever may be the Negligence or Malice of Men. G 2 From

' John 1 6. 15. k March. 2S. 19. ' Rom. ly. 20. "' lb. >er. 12.

" See CelUrius'i DlflferC. entitled Itinerarium Apofl. &c, Hilx I -00. Edit. 3. " See Grot, de Verit. Rclig. Chrift. 1. 2. Par. 18.

( 44 )

From hence It appears already, that even fup- pofing that the Argument, we are Ipeak ng ot, had aDy Force, it would prove nothing ni Favour of the Fathers, fincc they are not properl}' the Propjgjtors oi" the Chriitian Religion. tut let us grant, iince they will have it fo, this glorious Title to the Fathers ot the Church, as what may agree with them, in a certain Senfe, and to a certain Degree : It will he very tafy at one Stroke, to dertroy the Conftquence that is drawn to lliew what they ought to be, without examin- ing what they really were. We need only con- fider one indifputable Thing, that is, that the Apoftles themfelves were for a confiderable Time, fiU'd with carnal Prejudices, and that they like- wife had thtir weak vNide: They do not difguife them, and the ingenious Conieifion they make, ,ferves to confirm the Truth of their Teftimony, and the Sincerit^r oi their Intentions. Is there any Ground then for Aftoniihment, that the or- dinary Minifters who tucceeded them, and who were not favour'd with any extraordinary Alfr- flances of Heaven, had not all that juftnefs of thinking, all the Lights, all that Integrity and Purity of Heart, which we could wilh to find in them.

The Prcpjigators nf the Chyifriati R.diglon, muft vecejjinily (it is faid) have been Alen truly pious avd hiomvg. But all fdch as have contributed any Thing, to the Propagation of Chriftianity, after the Apoftles, muil: they needs have been fuch or only fome of them ? No one will ofFer to fay the iirft: And if we leave only the laft Part of the Queflion, I will aik, b}^ what could we know, that this Privilege was refervVl to fuch or fuch, rather than to others? Shall this be at the Time, in v/hich they liv'd ? But why xnuft the Fathers

4

(■ 45 )

of the three or fix firll: Centuries, have needs been trviy pious and hwwhg, rather than thofe ot the tenth or eleventh ? it feems, on the contrary, that to reafon on the Principle of this Queftion, in Proporti(<n as we were tarther Diftant from the Begnming ot the Eftabliliunent of Chrifiiani- ty, its Piop.igjtors ought to have had more con fpi- ,cuous Piety and Talents, to encreafe more and more the Progrefs of this holy Religion, and to fupply that which the Proots of the Fad, which are the Foundation of its Truth, lofe of their Force, by the Diftance of Time, in the Minds of Abun- dance of People, who are not capable of exami- ping them as they ought to be. Will any one I'^y that thefe Propjgcitors of the Chriftian Reli- gion, who ought to have been truly pious and kncw- 77;jj, are the Dodtors whofe Writings we have ? Bur why thefe, rather than a great Number of others, who have wrote nothing, or whofe Writ- ings aie not come to our Hands ^ Befides, What is meant here by being tt uly pious avd hwwing ? Would thev (liy that all the Propagators of the Chriftian Religion, from the Time of the Apoftles, muffc of Ncceirity have had a Piety and Knowledge, in Matters of Religion and Morality, as great and as exadt as pojfihle > Were not the Fathers fufceptible of Tome WeakneiTes, fomc PalTicns, fome Errors, fome Portion of Ignorance ? Muft God haveinterpos'd in a miraculous Manner, to hinder them from being Men like others, and fubjedl 'to the Failings of their Times, as well as to the Temptations of Circumftances they were in ? Not to have fo high an Opinion of them, as their bigotted Admirers, do we pretend that they were all Rafcals, or that fome among them were not truly pious, and knowing to a certain Point ^ If we maintain that they had not a juft Turn

of

( 4*5 )

of thinking, that they have frequent]}^ usM falfe Arguments, that they were utterly unacquainted with the Art of interpreting the Hoi}'- Scripture, and unfolding the Principles of Morality it con-, tains j do we for all this deny, that they have retain'd the Foundations of Religion and Morali- ty ? If we fay, that by an Efiect of human Frail- ty, they indulg'd thenifclves, fome more, iome, lefs in Paifions, and Adions, contrar}'' to the Rules of the Gofpel •, do we in this pretend to pene- trate into the Heart, or the Councils of God ? Do we deny that divers of them might not, with all this, be truly pious and good Men, and that the divine Mercy may not have Regard to their good Intention, and the Sincerity of a general Repentance?* Certainly we leave to God the Judg- ment of that which we cannot, nor ought not to decide i We only referve to ourfelves, the Right of charitable Judgments, for which we Ihall ali ways have more Inclination, than for raili Con- demnations. But we are not for this, oblig d to call Evil Good : We fliall always boldly blame that which is blameable, without refpecling a Fault in Favour of the Perfon : And as we Praife, and propofe heartily to the Imitation of every one, the good Adions and Vcrtues, which appear in the Life of any Father of the Church, To we fhall not difguife the bad Actions and Vices, which we can't help feeing, if we examine them, without PrepofTelfion.

But to come to the very Bottom of the Argu- ment, which I am examining, befides that, as I have already hinted, and fhall fay more of here- after, the Fathers were neither the onl3r, nor the principal Propagators o^ the Chriftian Religion after the Apoftles ; this Argument carries in it at moft but a plaufible Reafon. But probable

Reafons,

( 47 )

Reafons, ordinaril}'' not very fcjlid, and that never go beyond a flight Probability, are perltctly ridicu- lous in an Atiair like this. The Fathers, do they rcafoii Well or ill ^ Are they fallen in great Er- rors ?* Have they fufter'd theuTl'elves to be led to vicir.us Actions and Palfions ? Have they handled Morality exactly and fully ? It is a Fadt, we need only fee whether it be true or falfe. We have the' Pieces, the Books of the Fathers, and the Hiftory of their Lives •• Ler us read, ex- amine, and then judge. The Queftion is not, af- ter what Manner we conceive Things ought to have been ; The Matter in Hand is, after what Manner they have actually been. For, if the Fact be true, inftead of concluding, as they would have us, that the Fathers muft needs have been fuch as they reprefent 'em to us, for the Interefl: of the Chriltian Religion ^ I will infer on the contrary, that this was in no wife necefTary. To 'reafon otherwife, is to imitate thofe of the Ro- man Communion, who, to prove that Travfiihjian- tlitinn is not a new Opinion and unknown to the firll: Ages, tell us gravely that it was not polfible that this Opinion, Oiould introduce itfelf into the Church, fappnfTng it not to have been received from the Beginning. If with a profound Study of all the Subtiltics of the Mathematicks, and an Affedtation of being able to talk on all Sorts of Subjedts, a Man Ihould have his Mind no bet- ter turn'd, I am very much afraid, he would make the World take up a very bad Opinion of Algebra, 'and that vafl: Circle of Science, which he fo much values himfclf upon.

Is it not true, for Example, that from the fe- cond Century, V'l^or f^Bilhop oi Ro??ie, caus'd much

Difturbance,

Eufcb: Hirt-Ecclef. I. y. c. 27;

( 4n

Diilurbance, to maiiUain his Opinion upon this important Qiieftion, ffljut Bay ought to he celebra- ted for Lalter ? And that he excommunicated the Chinches of JJia, bccanfe they celebrated that Feait the i 4th Day of the Moon ol" ALnch, and not the Sunday after, as he would have ii ? The unlliakcn Fidelity, with which he ftord by the Chri'dian Religion, for which he even furter'd Mar- tyrdom, had not made him incapable of being warm about Trifles, and oirending again ft the Spirit ot Peace and Charii)r, which the Gofpcl lb forcibl}'' recommends. >>t. Irev&iis wrote to him upon that Head, and very iiveiily cenfurd his Prf ceeding. Will you have another Example of a Father of the Church, a Martyr likewife ? See, in the 2d Century, the fcandalous Broils, there were between St. Cypiian, BiOiop of Qrtthjgc and Stcphe)!, Biihop of Rome. The firft had got it, to be ckcided in a Council, that fnch as had been baptized by Hereticlcs iliould be rebaptiz'd. "" Ste- *' phett, "i irritated, perhaps, that they had come to " a Decision without firil confulting him, was, on " the contrary, of a very different Opinion, He " wrote St. Cyprian a Letter, which is loft, where " he rcjecVed and condemn'd the Decifions ci the *' Counci' of Caithage-^ excommunicated all thofe " that had been prefent at it • and declar'd that " they ought to receive, without rebaptizing them, " all fuch as would join themfelves to the Church, " from whatfoever Herefy they came : Which *' gave Birth to a troublefome S:hifm between *' the Churches of Afyjcci. and that of Roml. " At that Time, Vompey, Bifliop of Sabrata, a City " of Africa, entreated the Bifnop of Carthage to

conni-

'i St. Cyprun's l-j/e, hy le Clerc. Bibl. Uaiv. Tom. 12.

p. 371. &!,

( 4» )

" communicate tt) him the Opinion of Stephen ; " whereupon St. C)pyia7i fent him his Letter with *' a Conmtaiion ot" it, whf re he is ver}'- far from " obferving the Rules of Patience which he lays " down in the Book, where he treats of that Vir- *' tue : As Stephen, on his P-art, had violated them " after a moft fhameful A'lanner. We may fee *' from thence, that the Praifcs which our Martyr *' gives the Chriftians on that Head, at the Be- " ginning of the fame Book, where he fays, thit " they do not boaft at all of their Virtues, at the *' fame Time that he boafts extreamly ot them, " were of thofe Sorts ot Praifcs which teach us ra- " ther what thofe ought to have been to whom " they are given, than what they rcall}'' were. '^ He charges Stephen with having wrote with Ai*- " rogance, and divers other Things that made " nothing to the Subject-, of having contradided " himfelt, and talk'd like an ignorant and filly

'' fellow. Of taking the Part of Hereticks,

" againft the Church, and betraying it : All this " with extraordinary Warmth. It is true, he adls " alike in all his Difputes, where he fpeaks only " of Fpifcopal Difcipline and Authority, without " Ihcwing much Good-Nature. And indeed it was " no more the Cuftom, in thofe Da3''s^ to difpute " with Moderation than it is at pre fent.

'■ In the Beginning of the Fourth Century, ^ '* Eleven or Twelve Bilhops met together at Cf;f&« " in the Year ^cj, where they reproached one the " other with enormous Crimes. The greated " Part of them had given up the Scriptures to the " Pagans, to avoid Perfecution, when a great

H Num-

' Bibl. Univ. T. 24. p. 241. from Fkuvy's Ecclef. Hift. T. 2. p. 580, &c.

( 40

" Number of Lay Chyiji'iam had fufixred it with

" Conitancy : Others of them had thenifelves

" thrown them into the Fire. One rurpm ius of

" Lmata, was accufed of having put to Death

" Two of his Siller's Children. Inltead of- excu-

*' firg hinifelf, he anfwered boldly: As for me,

" I have killed, ami I do kill thofe that arc againjhne :

*' Dont etlige me to Jay ajiy Thing jmthcr : Te know

" very well, thatlcarefornoAlanhyeathiyrg. From

" the "" Time that the Emperors began to be

" Chriftians, Pleafures and Paftimes were intro-

*' duced into the Church, and nothing was to be

" feen among the Ecclefiafticks, but Enmities

" and Divifions. And bccaufe that the Bilfiops

" were rich, and well look'd upon, all ^ manner

" of Means were ufed to arri^'^e at the Epifcopacy ^

" and when it was obtained, the Bifhop exercifed

" a tyrannical Authority- Thefe Diforders en-

" creafed every D^y, till they came to the

" Height at which we have feen them, as the

*' Learned Lif} Archbifliop Ufier (hews, in a

" Treatife of his, cited in the Margin, by a great

" Number of Paffages of celebrated Authors, who

" have left us frightful Pidures of the Corruption

" of their Times." I have already cited Gregory

of Naziavzmn upon this Head, let us add here

^ Sidpitius Severiis, who lived in the fame Century.

" When he's fpeaking ^ of the Manners of the

*' Ecclefiafticks in his Time, as in Book the Firfl,

" where, after having obferved, that the Tribe

"of

' Ufier. de Ecclef. Soc. fuccefT. Bibl. Univ. Tom. 9. p. y. «Sic T. 23. p. 366, &c.

^ See of DiimCas Amm. Marcell. I.27. c. 5.

* ^ 9. Let. e.

'■ Journ. de Trevoux. Edit. Amfter, March & April 1701. Supplem.

( 43 ;

'' of Levi had no Lot in the Divifion of Cajuart^ " as the others had, he fays, That he mil not pafs over this Example in S7le7ice, but that he freely gives it to be read by the Minijleys of Churches. For it *' feemi to me, adds he, that they have not only forgot that Pi ecept., but that they even never knew it ^ fo " great a Fondnef shave they inthefe Times for Riches^ a Dijlemper which has got the Majlery of their Minds y like a Plague ! They ^purfue with Eagemefs after Pof- *' yt;/fow5, they beautify their Farms, they y lie upon " Gold, they fell^ they buy, in all Things they fearch after Gain. If there are any among them that fecm to have better Maxims^ fo that they neither poffefs any Thing., nor Traffick •, they do that which is imich more J!)ameful, they expeB Prefevts without doing any Thing., and they dif grace themfelves by taking Re- wards., their Holinefs being., as it were, fet to fale, *' We may likewife fee the impartial Manner in " which Sulpitius Stverus relates the * Perfecution " that was carried on againft the Prifcillianijlsy " towards the End of the Second Book of his Sa- *' cred Hiftory ^ where he openly blames the Pride " and Cruelty of certain Spanijl) Bifhops, who be- " gun to call upon the Secular Arm againft thofe " People, and fo managed Matters that fome of *' them were put to Death. In his firft Dialogue *■ he likewife defcribes very clearly, the cruel " Treatment which Theophilus, Bifhop of Akx- ** andria^ exercifed againft the Hereticks, and the ** Haughtinefs of the Ecclefiafticks of France.^

H 2 One

"^ Cap 23. F.d. Lipis. Bayle Rep. des Lettr. May 1684. J). 144, &c,

y Aiiro iiicii'osnr, perhaps the Mtdning of thk ♦«, that they lore it /» veU they are continualiy looking on it. See Virg. Georg, j. 507, Mn. 6. 610.

' Pacati Pauegyr. of Thcodof. c 27. Ed. Cellar,

( 44 )

One of the moR: famous Doctors of this Age, is St. Jerom, aCholerick Man, if ever there wat> one. He Jiad always extolled => Oiigen, without ikying any thing of his F.rrors ^ whether it was that he did not think 'em very important, qx becaufc he thought they ought to be pardoned in him, on the Account oi what wis to be. louiid good and ufeful in his Wr tings. But when the A.iavs be- gan to make ufe ot the Authority of Oiigen, and efpecially when JrZ;« B Tnop ot Jemfjlem who favoured the Opinions oF the Catechiit of Alex- andiia^ had drawn upon liimlelf the Hatred of St. Jerom '^ he inveighed, without Mercy, ag.iinlt Origeri, whom betorehehad extolled to the :5kies, and raifed a violent ^ Perfecution againft the Ongevijls. Ru§nm^ who had been a very particular Friend of St. 3'^erow's, having dtclared for Origdv^ and having alledgcd, in his Defence, the Praifes which St. Jerom had given him ;, our humble pa- cific Prieit wrote a?,ainll: Rufimis, a Book hill of Rage and Bitternefs. '! he fame Spirit reigns in his other Works, where he had to do with People whom he hated. St. Cyril^ Patriarch of Akxait- dria^ was, in the Opinion of the Abbot - dit Piv, *' an ambitious violent Man, who only feeking to " inlarge his A.uthority, was no fooner raifed to '" the Epifcopal Dignity than by his own Autho-

" rity

= Le Clerc. Qii -ft. Hie'on. Qii. «. § la.

•' /;/ his Atirjio^ry a^atnfl RiifTJii /;e boafis of it : Tmperunriiin <]uoque fcripra, fays /;c, quae de J.exandna iC /E:0f>to Or-\^^;itfL>f pelli juljent, me fiiggereiite cliflata fuiit; Uc Romiose iirbis Jjoiuifex miro eos oJio derefterur, meiim confilium fnit: Uc corns Orbis, pcifl: tranflarionem mam, in Oriaenis o lia. exHrferir, qusni antea fimpliciter kttirabar, mens operatus eft

" V'if ii taien from the AhflraO: in Nouv. de le Rep &c. k n. h Clerc. Eibl.Univ. T. zi. p. 19. I'art 2.

(45)_

" rity he drove ouf the NovjtJam, and defpoiled " their Bilhop of the Goods he enjo3''ed. He at- " tack'd the Jem in their Synagogues, at the *• Head oths Flock, took them away trom them, *■■ drove em out of AlexjndrLi^ and allov\'td the " Chridians to plunder their Goods ^ founding '' thisAdion, without doubt, on the holy Maxim " ot the Biihop of Hippo^ That every Thing bclovgs "■ to the Faithful, and that the r/icked have no Right " to what they pojjefs. St. Cyril had like wife a " Quarrel with Oreftes, Governour of Alexavdria^ " upon whofe Authority he was continually en- *' croaching. Five Hundred Monks, fupporting " their Bilhop, one Da)'' furrounded the Governour, " wounded him with a Stone, and had killed him, " had not his Guards and the People flopped their " Fury. This Action cofl: one of the Monks his " Life, who was taken and died upon the Rack. *' St. Cyril caufed him to be regarded as a Saint. *' A celebrated Pagan Philofophefs, named Hypatia, ''■ was the Victim which the Partifans of the Bi- " fhop facrificed to the Manes of their Martyr. " She was cruelly torn in pieces, becaufe fhe was " accufed of having incenfed the Governour againft " the Prelate.

Would any one know what Sort of People the Ecclefiaflicks were in the fifth and following G?m- tiiries ? An ^ Author,who cannot with any Juftice befufpcded of meaning any ill to the Fathers, Mqll infum us. " The Seds, fays he, (of the " Nejioiians and Eutychians) fprung partly from *' Lazincfs and Superftition, partly from private '* Refcntments, and from the Envy and Malice

"of

'' DilTertat. Hiftor. Rorteidam 1707, p. 8, 9. M. le Clerc. Epift. Eccl. & Crit. p. 167, &c.

( ^6 )

*' of the Ecclefiaflicks, gave the finifliing Stroke to Perfecution in Matters of Reiigiou. It is

u

true, that this « perfecuting Spirit was al- ready fprnng up : But it had not as yet exercifed its Tyranny, with all the Cruelties with which it was accompanied fince that un- fortunate Age, when Men divided themfelves about Opinions, in which there might be fome- thing real, but concertmig which it would have been " voy eafy to have agreed, if the Spirit of Chrijli- " avityhad prefided in EcclefLxJHcal Ajfemblies. From " that Time, nothing was to be feen in the £'^7? " but Piofcriptions, Maifacres, and Outrages. See " how a Bifhop, of t\\Q Fifth Century^ who was " perfecuted for Kejloriixnifm^ fpeaks of it : '' I p^ifs " f over in Silence, fays he, the Chains^ Dungeons^ *' Confifcations^ Alarks of Iifajny, Mctjj acres deferv- " hg the higheji Companion, the Enor^nity of which is *' /o great, that even Juch as have had the Mi fortunes " to be IVitnejfcs of them, can fcarce believe them " credible. All thefe Tragedies were played by the Bi-

^'' JJ)Ops.— Among them aiidaciovfnefs pajjesfor a

" Mark of Courage ^ they call their Cruelty Zeal, and '* their Knavery is honoured with the Name ofWifdom. " This continually encreafed trom that Time. *' The Emperor Jufiinian would not be behind " hand in Zeal with the Prelates of the Fifth " and Sixth Centuries. He did not think himfelf, " (ays Procopiits, s guilty of Murder, when thofe he " condemned to die., made Profeffion of another Reli- " gion than his. The World in thefe Unfortunate " Ages, fawthe moll frightful Cruelties praftiled.

" Sieges

' Amm. Marcell. I. 2^. c. y. p. 233.

f Etherius Epif. Tyanorum inter opera Theodoritij T. f. p. 6?8, 689.

s .^necdor. \\6o; Ed, Alemanni,

( 47 )

" Sieges were held cut in Monafteries •, Battles " fought in Councils •, Men entered with armed *' Force into Churches-, all thofe were treated^' '• with the utmoft Cruelty, who were fufpected " of favouring Ophi}oi:s, vrhuh often were uvder- ^' JforJ ly Ttoiie, "not even by thofe who defended them " with t.begjejtejl Stjjfjwjs arJOlJImicy.' See liere " thefe great i^ights ot the Church, thefe holy " Fathers, that are put upon us as iMe?! truh " pious iVid kvomng.''

Rut the principal Queftinn here is of the right Turn of Mind, -Solidity of Thought, and Extent of Knowledge of thefe Fathers. Allow me to apply to the Fathers, the following Verfes of a modern Fjt?m/;Satyrift, who has been dead fome time.

^w'ow ^jjiite en eux Vhonveiir, l^foi, li^probite, ^uon prife leiir candeiir et lenrfvcerite, ^nh aier.t eu qiielquefois iive humeiir dehonmirey On le vent, fy Joufois, et fun prSt de me ta'ire : Metis que coynme wi fnodcle on va7tte leus EcritSy ^w'ow k fijfe pajfer pour de fort bom Efprits, Commeaux Roisdes Auteurs, qiien lew dfnne V Empire^ Ma bile alors sechaufe^ & jc hi tile d^ ecrhe, &c.

The Inflances I have cited ahove, of thegroG Miftakes, andfalfe. Thoughts of the Fathers ^ that which I have faid of their Works, where one finds an infinite Number of LownclTcs, cited with great Elogiums by the bigotted Admirers of thefe ancient Doctors of the Church ^ the great Number of like PafTages, which divers Authors have re- marked andcenfurcd asOccafion ' offered : All this

would

'' Eutycbii Annate?, p. i^^.

i See the Reflentons of Phereponm {Mr. It Clttc) vn 5f. Au- Hftin in the Appendix Augqftin,

( 48 ^

would difpenfe with me from alledging an}'' • However, I iliall here give a fmail Specimen, by which one may judge, at firft Sight, what was the Turn of Thinking that prevailed in thofe Times.

Justin Martyr, in the 5th ^'Chapter of his Thji Apolog), fays, that the bad D&mo7u formerly ap- peared^ that they covimitted Adidteiy with Women, defied Boys, Sr.c. All this founded only on Geref. 6. 4. misinterpreted. The moil ancient Fathers likewife vented this Opinion, as certain, one after the other, as a learned Editor of this Father has obferved. jufin finds the Crofs "^ in the Sails and Mafts of Ships, in Ploughs, Mattocks, (S'c.

St. Iren&us, in the Opinion o^ Phothis, " has cor- rupted, by Jlravge tr'ifiing Reafonivgs^ the Simplicity and frici Tinth oj the Opinmis of the Church. " What is there ° more poor, for Exaniple, than " the Reafons he ufes to prove that there are " four Gofpels, becaufe there are four principal " Regions of the World, the Eafl, the Weil:, the " South, and the North •, or becaufe that the " Building of the Church is founded on the Gofpel, *' and that there muft be four Pillars to fupport " a Building. T^eryp/?)'/j;^ has not fucceeded better, " when he fays, that it is becaufe the Gofpel " teaches ns the four Cardinal Virtues;, or becaufe *' that the Gofpel contains Doctrines, Precepts, *' Promlfes, and Threatnings. Don't the five

" Books

^ S"eeIeClerc. Klbl. Chois. T. 2. p 35T, 556.

* Grabe Spicileg. parr- &c. See alfo Petivii Dosm. Theo!- Tom. 3. Trad, rie Angelis 1. 3. c, 2.

"> I Apol. 1. 72. Bill. Chois. T. 3. Art. 8. & Bibl. Univ. T. 6. p. 22, &c.

" Cod. 120.

" Bernard. Nouv, dela Rep. desLettr, Decemb. 1703. p.635

( 57 )

Books of A'hfes contain the fame Things' St. * Ahximin and Tbeifbaves icem to have fucceecled ' ftiil woi(^.% when ihey advance that there w. re ' but tour Gcfpels, becnnie there were but four ' Llements. Mr.Kr/'ncij/i has Reafon to fay, that ' ii thee were five, three, or a hundred Gofpels, ' there would not have been wanting as good ' Reafons why there were no more, or no lefs. ' Such LownelH-s as thefe, reflett Difgrace on Hu- ■' mane Reafon. They might perhaps pais in ■* Converfation, where one does not alwa3''s ma- '* turely confider what one fays ;, but when one " meets with thcni written fericufly, in Works "" compofed for the Public, and to be handed " down to Polltiiiy, the leaft one can do. in my " Opinion, to revenge ones felf on the Authors " who have obliged us to read fuch Things, is to " take the Liberty to difapprove of them.

"■ St. Cyprian, r when he treats cf Ecclefujlkal " DifcipUve, is continually citing the Paflkges of '' xheOldTeJljmevt, as well as of the ■ Ncn\ where *' one meets with the Ljiti;/ Word Dljciplina^ with- *'■ out having any Regard to Circumftances. See " here the Reafoning he ufcs againft Liician, (a " PricH: and Martyr of C.xrthage, who was for re- " ceiving into the Communion of the Church fuch " as had funk under Perfecution , without " obliging them to pafs through all the Degrees " of Penitence :) The Lord hivivg covimj-vded to " baptize the Nations in the Name oof the Father, '* of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoft^ and declared^ " that their p.ijl Sins are pardoned in Baptifm ; this " Man hwrving neither the Omvnandmenti^ tior the " LarcSj cojnmands m to give Peace, and pardon Sin

I " in

Epitt. 17. Bibl. Univ. T. 12. p. i54.

( 58 )

in the Name of Paul. It is eafy to fee, that there is an infinite Dilierence between the Pardon which God grants to Sins committed before Baptifm received m Jiis Name, and remitting certain EcclefiafticL.l Penalties by the Authority of a Martyr, who commands it. In his Treatifc of the Uvhy of the ^ Chinch, he maintains, that the Indivifibilit}'- of the Church was figured out by our Lord's Garment, without

a Seam. 'He fays, that Men ought to be

' liberal tothePoor, becaufe that, as by Baptifm we obtain the Pardon of all the Sins we have committed before our being baptized, by virtue of the Blood of Jefn^ Christ, fo by Alms we ex- piate thofe committed after Baptifm.— When his endeavouring to overthrow the falfe Eicufes, which are fometimes made, to be exempted from giving Alms, he relates that of thofe who fay, that the Multitude of their Children does not allow them to be fo liberal as they could wifh to be. Heanfwers to that, that the more Children one has, the m.ore one ought to give, becaufe that one ought to expiate the Sins, pu- rify the Confcience, and deliver the Souls of a greater Number of Perfons. St. JeroTtty " f who recommends Celibacy as much as he can, and who, after the Manner of Ora- tors, often makes Arrows of all Sorts of Wood, ufes this fine Reafon againft Jovir'un : Cdlihes^ fays he, quod cosh digmfttnt, inditinn vomeji-. This Name was given them, hecanfe they are worthy of Heaven^' If you would fee a Heap of Sophifms,

and

*? Ibid. p. 283,

»"fhit}; p. 338, 339, out of the Booh deOpere& Eleemofynis, p. 197, 2or.

*" Rep. des Lettr. May 1^02. p. 502.

( 59 )

and falfe Reafonings, that prove nothing, or that prove that Marriage is in itfelf Criminal, you need only read the reft of this Book againfi: Jovi- tiia7i, and that which he wrote againfi: Helvidius "^ i in which he attacks fecond Marriages. Heboafts himfelf, in the lad Work, of ading the Rhetori- cian and the Declaimer : Rhetoricati fiimus, ^ in morem Dechtnatoiiim pauluhvi lufimus. Jn another Place he brags '' of Writing witli great Precipita- tion, and without giving himfelf the Trouble to think much upon his Commentaries. According- ly he often contradicts himfelf He dares own, without Difguife, that in his "■' polemical Works, he only aimed at anfwering his Adverfaries, and puzzling them, without troubling himfelf whe- ther what he faid were true or not. He juftifies this Conduct of his by the Example of Origeii^ Methodius, Eiifebius^ Apollhiavim^ and other Apolo- gifts of the Chriftian Religion, who, according to him, did the fame agc.ivji the Pagans ^ making j^e of very doubtful and problematical Argnmoits^ and main- taining not rvhat they thought^ but what the Inter esi of the Difpute required. Further, he pretends that hs only imitates Jefus Chrljl, and St. Paul, who main- tained., as he pretends, both Sides of the ^leftlon^ according as It was convenient for them.

The great St. Augiijlln alone, is able to furnifli out Matter fufficient to compofe a large Volume of Lowneffes : I fl\all content my felf with fetting down two Examples. Explaining that PaiTage of Genefis 7,. 14. where the Laffw Verfion, which he

I 2 followed.

' Lc Citrc. Qiinpl>. Hieronym. 8.

'■ Comni. in Akliam, at the EnJ^ andVrxfit, 1. z. in Euift. aJ Ephef.

* Thu Vaffage U cited at large in Sentim, Je f2Uf frjue, Theolc. d'HollanJe, p. 368, 369.

( 60 )

followed, had it, as the Septiugint^ Thou Jljalt go vpon thy Bt eajl^ §7id vpon thy Belly, all the Day^ of thy Lijc : By the Breijf, fays he, ^ is to be iindcr- ftood P.'hie-, by tht Bdly, the Dejires of the F/e?/7; •, and by that which is added, ThouJIult e.yt the Duf, is meant Cw'wfty, which enters only into Things temporal and earth)}'. By O.vvfity^ he under- ftands Avarice: And thus it is that he draws Moral Reflcdions from the Scripture. His Re- mark upon the Title of the Pfahm is very pkafant. " '1 he >' Copiers did not ufe to put befoie the firft Vfnm. Tjdmvs piimm^ as is done now, probably becaufe they thought it un- " necefiiuy, ilnce one could not miOake, feeing "it at the Beginning of the Book, and followed *' by the fecor.d Pfalm. '^X . Augnjlivc finds out a " much more mylterious Rcafon." As thhVfalm^ fays he, hjtrcduces God hiwjclf Jpeak'nig, for that Rcafm it has vo Title^ for jeav ar.y Thivg fwuld he preferred to the. Word of God, or that he Jlmidd he called Fhjl. vho has ncjt been called FirU, hit One : Avd thus it could votj avd ought v.ot to have avy Title, for fear., if it had the Title of FirU, it viight be thouoht the hesl\ ordy from the Order of Nutnber, avd vxt frovi its cnvn Authority. Or., adds he, as v:e h.'ivs already [aid, kaH: it JI?oidd be thought that the Pfahnisi preferrd av.y Thivg to the If^ord of God, if he had put a Title before this Pfalm ^ for if it had h?en called the f; si, it Jiiight have been tinderfiood^ preferably to others. Thus it is the only one, concbides he, that has no Title, that fo it may mamffjlly appear., how much it is difringuifljed a- hove others. " Pray try if you can make the Con- *' clufion ao;ree with the Premifes. I

." L. 2. de G-nefi, contra ManicI). C. 17. Sec Obfcrvat, Hall. T. 4 O.f. y. y Sentim. (lerjuelq. Theol. d'HolU p. 362.

(■ 6i )

I am weary of tranfcribir.g To many Things, 2s tedious, as they are injudicious. There is enough, already to paint to the Life, the Character of the Authors we are treating c f , ar.d to let us know ex iivguc Leovem. I have dehgnedly chofen Examples, that have been alrcad}^ produc d, and which are to be met with in Booiks, that are very common. We fliall fee from thciice, that it does not very well become our zealous Defenders cf the Fathers, to infifl upon our taking it on their Words, that they were Men tudy fiom ard kmw- hg, againfl: fo many Proofs, known by all Man- kind, which make it as clear as the Sun at Noon Day, that their Vcrtues in general were very middling, and mix'd with great Failings, thofe of divers ol them even very fufptdlcd of Hypccrify -, and as to what regards the dualities of their Un- derflanding, that it was often falfe and diforder- Jy •, that they had much more Imagination than good Senfe ^ that they were defvitute of a great many necefTary Ailiftances to encreaie and per^ feet their Knowledge, and that they =» negleded thofc they had in their Power, or might procure thcmfclves ; that thus ^ their Knowledge could be but very bounded ^ in a Word, that the m.oft ingenious of them, are in nothing comparable to the Authors of our Age, neither for their So- lidity, Stile, Order, or Method. Can one con- fidently with Candour and Sincerity, regard the Fathers as Men very judicious and very know- ing, after all we have cited from their Works >

The

» See IfsLtrtr. Crir. & Ecclef. tie M. Je Clerc. Ep. 4 p. 107. &c. and the RiM. Chnif. Tom. n. p. 102. ^c.

*• The yerj tearmn^ nf thnfe that fafi for the mojl learn* J, rrat ygry common^ and coft them very little, as has been yery juflh cbj'ery'd by M. Benurd, Rep. des Lctcr. March 1699. p. 260.

( 6^ )

The moft exacl and moft Underflanding Genius may be deceived, I own, and give into fome falie Thoughts : But it will have at leaft fome Plaufiblenels, and not happen often ^ and I maintain that a Man of moderate good Senfe, will never fall into the ExcclTes, into which al- moft all the Fathers have gone. None but fuch as are capable of the like LownefTes, or ftrange- \y blinded by a Spirit of Party, can fo highly ex- ' toi thofe that have utter'd them. Unfortunately for them, we don't live in an Age, in which one may act thus with Impunit)^ The public is no longer the Dupe of thefe Sorts of grave Affirma- tions, deftitute ot Proofs, and on the contrary bely'd by an infinite Number of decifive Reafons, prefented to the View of the World. It is ban- tering and flattering ones feif in a very grofs A/Ian- ner, to imagine, that without fo much as having attempted to difprove Facts fo certain as thofe ^ which we have advanc'd, one can ward off the Charge by fuch a pitiful Argument as this : if the Chnjl'ian Religion had twt for its Propagators, Men truly pious and knowing, what Opinion ought one to have of it ?

We are not oblig'd to give the Reafons of God's Conduct, of what he does, or what he does not ^ of what he permits, or what he condudts by the hidden Ways of his Providence. Inflead of fay- ing : Such or fuch a Thing, is contrary to the De- Jigns of God, or to his Vertues •, therefore God could Tiot do or ftiffer it ; we believe, and have good ^ Ground for it. that we fhould rcafon thus : God has done or fvfferd fuch or fuch a Thing, therefore there is vothijig in it, contrary t-a^ his Dejigns, or to his Vertues, although our weak and bounded Un- derflanding, does not always fee clearly how to make this agree with the Views and infinite

Perfedtions

(63)

Pcifeciions of this fovereign Being : Neverthe- lefs, as we are not forbid to look into, and modcftly propofe the Reafons he might have had, not to interpote in an extraordinary Man- ner, to prevent certain Things ^ if we will a lit:le give the Reins to our Thought in a Mat- ter f f Fact of which we're d'fputing, we Ihall eafily difcover fufficient to iatisfy ourfelves, and at the fame Time, wherewithal to (lop the Mouths of thofe, who would have it that God adts ac- cording to their Fancy. If, *' on this Side the Apoltles, we find nothing but what is very indifferent, and very conius'd, in this firfl Origine of Chriftianity, it is in all Probability, as Mr. le Gere <= has very well obferv'd, that none might be able to fay in the Ages to come, that there were at that Time, Genius'^ capa- ble of forming fuch a Religion as is the Chri- ftian, and to counterfeit Books to its firft Au- *' thors •, fince we fee nothing, after them, that comes near their Writings. Not only the. Heads *' of other Seds, that fprung up in thofe Times, but likewife thofe that protefs\l to follow the '' Apoflles only, don't come near the Manner of " "Writing of thofe holy Men. Keverthelefs in " this Manner of Writing, there is £0 much Sim- " plicity and Nature, if we may fo fpeak, that one fees clearly from thence, that they are not themfelves the Inventors of that which " they tell us, but that they were beholden, for ** all that they knew, to Jefiis Chiji^ and to the " Spirit which they had received. " Certainl)^ if we confider the Books of the New Teflament, on the Side of the Manner of reafoning, no one

of

' Bibl. Choir. Tom. 4. p. 376. j;?.

( 64 )

of the Fathers of the Church, made as they were, could ever have composed Works, in which gvood Senie reigns throughout, as we lee it in the Gof- pels, and the tpiftles of the Apoftles. We ma/ fay, too, that God, by permitting the Fathers of the Church to be fo incorrect in their Writ- ings, and often fo very irregular in their Conduct, delign'd to fliew that the Chriilian Religion, which was to continue to the End of the World, ' fupports itfelf by itfelf, notwitliftanding thefmall Underftanding and Sanctity of thofe who ought to have been the great Supports of it. If there was any Thing in it, contrary to the Wiidom of God, or which was capable of doing Hurt to the Chriftian Religion ^ it might be prov'd, from the fame Principle, that there could not be under Chriftianity, Ages of a general Ignorance and Corruption, efpecially among the Clergy, as thofe that preceded the Reformation j and thus our zealous Detendcrs of the Fathers, would have as good a Foundation to maintain againfi: the Faith of Hiftory, that thofe Ages, were not fuch as the}'' are generally believ'd to have been.

But utterly to confound thofe that are not a{ham'd to ufe a miferable Argument, in which is not to be found the lead Shadow of Reafon, on whatfoever Side you examine it ^ let us add in a few U'ords three or four Refleftions. The firft is, that neither Jefus Chiijf, nor his Apoftles, have either faid, or any where given ns to underftand, that fuch as were to be looked upon after them, as Propagators of the Chriftia-n Religion, m.uft needs be Men truly pious avd hiowiiig. The Parable of the ^ Tares, fown by the Enemy \ and that of the

Net,

'^ Marth. 13, 24 &c. See les Epift. Crir. Sj Eccl, de M. le Clerc. p. 1 21, 122. &'(. and his Treatife 0/ Incredulity p. 189-

( ss )

Xet, <^ that takes all Sorts of Fifh ; fhew fuffici- ently, that in the Chrillian Church, the Wjcked ihould be niix'd with the Good, that fo thele might not be uppcrinoft, and appear with more Advantage^ than others. Our Lord foretold the Diviiions, vv'h ch would be produced by the Igno- rance, vain Subtilties, RaHmefs, Prefumption, and the Paliions of the Propjgators of his Reli- gion. And St. Paid allures ' us. That there 7JiiiJi he Hcre/ies^ that they which ate approvJ, may he 7nad3 7fuvife]f •, that is to fa}'', that ^o a Mind free from Prejudices, and which does not judge of Things by the Appearance, might difcern thofe that are Truly and Sincerely attach'd to Truth and Ver- tue. When the Apotlles fp^^ak to us, of that which was to happen in the Church, they exprefs themftlves after Inch a r> Manner, as to give us Ground to think, that the Fccleliafticks fhould not be ordinarily the Men in the World, the moft Pious and the moft Knowing. Even in the Time ot the Apoftles, there were Firebrands and falfe Doctors, to whofe Raflmefs, and reduc- ing, thofe holy Men were oblig'd to oppofe them- felves. In thofe Days fiourifli'd one Diotiephes, ^ a vain ambitious Man,who fyoke ill of St. John^who would not receive thofewhom that holy Apoftle held Brethren, butcaft them cut of the Church.

The fecond Remark I have to make is, that, in the firft Ages, as well as in the following, thofe that made the greateft Noife in the Church, and who had the greateft Reputation, were not always thofe (hat had the moft good Senfe, Know- ledge, and ' Vertue. At that Time, as at prefent, it was not ordinarily Merit, that rais'd to the

K higheft

* ^ee Ldke 6. yi. * I Cor. ii. 19. 8 5fe 1 ThefT. 2'

3. &€. I Tim. 4, I. (3^1. 1 PcCfr 3, 3. JuJe v. iS. h 2 Ep. of Sr. John v. 9, 10,

■ See what Gregory cf Nazianzum, /i7» in Ins Timt^ in his Life p7ii!ilh'd byM- le Clerc. Bib!. Univ. Tom. x8. p. y6, 89, 91,119

( 66 )

higheft Ecclefiaftical Dignities. Thus, no t with - ftanding the bad Taftes and bad Manners, that reign'd more or lefs in every ^'^ge, we cannot in the leaft doubt, that there were both among the People, and among the Cle;gy, Men more judi- cious, more knowing, more wife, mere realona- ble, and more pious, than thofc whole Names and Writings, are celebrated among us. 1 leave People to judge, to whom of the two, the Name of Fropagjtor of the (bu/liaii Religion is molt juft- ly due, whether to thofe we know, or to thofe we know nothing of, bccaufe that the others, took care to hinder them, trom appearing In their Time, and that their Memory Ihculd not pafs to Pofterity with Advantage. Among the laft, fome through Timoroufncfs, others through Pru- dence, or the Impoiubility they found of fuc- ceeding, were loth to engage with Men ftrorger than thcmfelves : And if any one dar'd to oppofe the Do£lors, that had g in'd the Admiration of the Populace, they were Pjon made to repent theirRafh- nefs : Witnefs theAffair oH'^igihvtim with Si-Jerovi. I obferve in the third Place, that with Refpedt to the Interefls of theChriftian Religion, we (land in no need of the \*'orks of Ecclefiaft'cal Antiquity, but as fo many Hiftorical Pieces, which prove that which pafs'd, and that which was believd in the Time of each Writer. An Author, '^ whom I have al- read}'" cited, acknowledges it exprefsly : When the Pro- te/avts. fays he, coyjfiilt the Fathers avd the Coiivcils, they life that Study only to learn the Hijiory of Opinions, and to trace out the Beginnings of Error, very far from looking there, for the Foinidation.s of their faith. So that it is ridiculous, to cry out after this, that all is loft, if we have not a great Veneration for the Fathers, and if we fpeak freely good or ill of them. The very Divifions, which their Ignorance, their Pafllons, and their Subtilties,

have

^ Difl". Hiftoriiiuesj &c, p. 217.

( 67 )

have produc'd in the Church, are of no fmall Ufe to allure us, that no confiderable Corruption is crept into the Holy Scripture, fince that one Par- ty would not have fail'd to have reproach'd the other with it.

M}'- forth and lail Remark is. that notwith-- landing the little Exadtneis of the Fathers, which led them into divers Errors, notwithftanding their very great Fondnefs of vain Subtilties, and which made them negledt Things more KecelTaryi the fundamental Dcdrines of Religion, and Morality, were preferv'd among ' Chriitians, in the moffc dark and wicked Ages. If there have been divers falfe Things ;:dded and mix'd if they have not been unfolded, and pufh'd all their Lengths, is this the Fault of the Gofpel } But in fhort, Pro- vidence has boldly juftify'd itfelf, if we may fo fpeak, in tlie Eyes of all who without any Reafon, throw upon it the Negligence and badTafteofMen. God has rais'd up Men, who have introduc'd a better Manner of Study and Reafoning. We learn every Day more and more, to rightly interpret the Holy Scripture, and to treat of Morality, as it ought to be treated. A good Tafte gains Ground, and there .is Reafon to hope, that in Time it will make confiderable Progrcfs. Perhaps a Time may come, in which the Fathers and your fond Ad- mirers, will be efteem'd according to your Deferts.

But it is Time to end this long l^igrelTion. I thought it neceiTary, once for all, entirely to deftroy the only fubterfuge that was left for thofe who boafl: fhemfclves of having defended the Fa- thers. Let us now take up again the Thread of our Hiriory of Morality. After that which we have faid of the little Care the Dodtors of the Church of the firft Six Cotturies took to cultivate K_2 it,

' See M. le Clfrc. tU cligenda inrer Chriftianos Difleiuienres Sentntia, at tht End of tht laft Edition of Grotius de ver. Rel« Chrift. $.7.

(68)

it, it would be fuperfluous to run over the follow- ing Ages, in which Ignorarxe and Corruption in- creafing more and more, arrived at length to fuch a Pitch, that they fcarce left an}'' Spark of good Senfe and Vertue, especially among the tc- clefiafticks. To fajmothing of the great Number of ridiculous Superllitions, and the prodigious Ido- latry which entirely disfigured Chriftianity : Thou- finds of detcftable Maxims were eftablilh^d worthy the Darkncfs of thofe unfortunate Ages. The Bifhop of Rc7):t\ "^ caufed himfelf to be regarded as invefted with a Power to depofe Kings, whom he Ihculd judge to be Hereticks, and to abfolve their Subjects from the Oath of Fidelity. An " Italia7i, named Jo'bi GigUs^ ^ or des Lis (de Liliis) who was made Bifl^iop of lf'oyceJh]\ by the Au- thority of the Pope, received at the fame time a Right to pardon all Sorts of Crimes, and to allow People to retain the Goods of another, after what Manner foever thev were acquired, provided they gave fomePart to the Pope's Com milTaries or his i^ubftitutes.

The Lig'.t of the Reformation re eftabliflied confiderably hmoVig T-.ote If ards^ Purit}'- of Do£lrine and Praclice. But the Reformers themfelves, and their SuccelTors, have they always followed the Spirit of Chriftianity, and of the Reformation-* The frightful Doctrine of Perfecution for the Sake of Religion, has it not been maintained in two cxprefs Treatifes, one of Calvin, "^ the other of <3 Bs-z.iX '^ And did not Calvin adually put his Prin- ciples

••' T.je CAmn of the Council ^/L ateran he!d <zf Rome, /; tranjl.tted in Rj'.l.Uoiv.T.'g. p. 59. See aJfoTom.ii. p. 387. and M dti Pin d' Ja p!uiT»nceEccler. & Temporelle, 1707. " 5ef Secksndorf Coir.m. i^iii. & Apo'.oe. de liuheraHifm, &c. I. i-

" 5?? Whar-ron'j Anolia Sacra SupfUm. ad Hift. Eccl. Vigorn.

^ Fideli? expofitioerroruraMich. Serveti, & brevis eorundem rtfitatio: U>ji docetur jure gUdii coercendos effe Hsreticos.

•> DeHzretici! aMagiftrara Puiiiendis.A7o«,f/7e Friends of Jiiftuf Kipliu', in anfwer tofomt Protejiant who bad exclaimed agamft the

Opinion

( 69 )

dples in Praclice on the Occafion o^Servetm ? Have we as yet, in thefe Times, been able to draw from abundance of People, (who hai'e thcmfelves felt, for To long Time, and in fo nic^ny Shapes, the fa- tal Efledtsof Perfecution) a very exprels Acknow- ledgment, that all Perfecution, all Moleftation, great or little, diredt or indirect, for the Sake of Religion, is a true Tyranny ? Have we not feen Perfons, who have dared to attribute the Progrels of Chridianity to this Manner of converting Peo- ple, and who have maintained, that "" Pagavifm^ would he Jianding at this Day, avd that three ^tarters of Europe jvoidd he JliU Pagans, had Conltantine and his Succejjoys, iijed all their Authority to abolijl) Chrijliamty. Are there not others that revive the pernicious Maxim oi" St.^AuguJIive, that fuch as do not believe in Jefus Chri/I, cannot be efteemed lawful PoirelTf)rs of the Goods of the Earth ? l£ we conflder that few good Books of Morality are to be met with, efpecially in our Language, in Comparifon of that infinite Number of Books of Controverfy that overflow Libraries, and Book- fellers Shops, we (hall readil}^ conclude, that the Study of Morality is very much negledled. The public Difcourfes appear not very inflruflive in thisRefpedt^ and, if any one doubt of it, fee here authentic Teftimonies which may fully convince Jiim. Mr. La Placette, Paftor of the French Church

at

opinion of the^unif) ment of Heretids, which he maintains in his I'o- litick', and in his Treatife de una Religion?, diJ not fail to retort, by aUtdgwg the /if air ff S^rvctus^ and citing a Pajfage o^' Beza, Trhere it is cxprejly faid, Thar it is more abdirJ to pretend that one ought nor to piinifh Hereticks, than ir vvouM be to main- tain that we oiigl.t to let ficrilegions Perfons and Parricides go unpuiiifbed ; Hereticks, adds he, are inHnirely more wiciced than any of tlofe Wretches. S(?e r/jf L'/V of Li pfius, i> Au'ien' le Mire, T.I. of the Horlt of that great Criticl', p. i6.£J'f.VcfaI. ' Droits des deiix Souveraii)s,(^f. p. 206. See Di£t. de M. Raylc T.i, p.4a^,426. Edit. 2. Remark H. ^ See V. Molin^natom.

Arminianifmi, c. 31. Dift. 18. Maccov. Diftindt. c. 3. ^ 18. Theol. c^ueA. loc aj. ^ueft, xj. Voiitiusj ^c.

/ 70 )

at Copevla^e)!, m his Treatife ^ of ReJIkulwv^ in- troduces People fpeaking, who being loft, for having negle.:ted that important Duty, will com- plain ot their Preachers at the Da}'- of Judgment, in the following Terms : '' We might have done " very well, without Co m.an}'' vain Speculations, " fo many tiivolous Enquiries, fb manyabllracted " Queflions, fo manyufclefs Difputes uponMat- " ters in which we had no Concern, and which *' have made up the principal Matter of j^our " Sermons We don't fee any body that is " damn d, for not having known a Hundred " Thir,gs which you hare taught us with Accu- " racy and Earneflnefs, wh ch you might have " fpared your felves. But we are in this mife- " rable State for having negk-£led our Duly, of " which 3'^cn never told us one Word. You have " let us approach the Table of the Lord, without " tcUir.g us, tjiatit was coming unworthil)^, and *' taking our Condemnation, to come without ha- " ving beforehand emptied our Hands and our *' Cofters, of all that we had wrongfuU]'' ac- " quired. You have told us of the Mercy of God. " You have prcis'd us to implore it with all our " Heart, and with a lively Confidence, without " telling us one Word of the Impolfibilitv there is " in obtaining the Effects, whilft we perfift in In- *' juftice, and of Confequepce in Impenitence, as " we doubtlefs do, when we neglect to reflore that " which we have wrongfully taken. In a Word, " you have left us ignorant ofthefe capital Truths *' at the Time when they might have been of Ser- " vice to us, and you are the Caufe that we learn " them but now, when they only ferve to render " us inexcufable, and convince us that we juPtly " perifh." Mr. OflervaU, Pallor of Neufchattd in Switzerhvd, makes a like Acknowledgment. See it here, fuch as I find it related by a third Minifter, ' Mr.

"■ p. 51,52.. 5«e rfi/o p. 147..

( 7' )

Mr." Bernard, that learned and judicious Continu- ator of the ''' Nnuvelles de Is RepiiLUqve des Letv.es. '' Ignorance,/.j_ys he, concerning the Duties ci Chri- " ftianity, is both very ger,eial, and ver}" great. " There are fome which an infinite Kumber otPeo- " pie never think rf at all. The Author inftances, *' tor Example, the Duty of Reftitution : He tells " us, that Mr. h PLicette having publilVd, fome " Time ago, a Treatife upon thatSunjecl, the Book *' was read as a fingular Book, the Subject of which " was new and curious, and that there were fome " who treatcfl that I)f drine rf Reflhiitiov, as a new " and very ievere Doarii:e. — Some there are, that *' pretend that Moralit}'- ought not to be fo much in- *' filled on, that fome Allowances ought to be made *' toHuman Nature ^ whillt they ftronglyinfifc upon " fpeculative Opinions, and even upon fome that '■ are not very important.Thereare (ome who have '' gone fo far as to lay, that it was dangerous to in- " lid: ib much upon Morality, that the fo doing is a *■ Mark of Herefy. Divines have dared to publiih *' Books, in which they fcem to have attempted to " deay good Worlds. Ought one to be furprized, " that People led by fuch Conductors, give them-

" felves no more Trouble topractife them ?

" The Doctors appointed to teach Religion, quarrel " upon ver}'' ufelcfs Queftions-, and, whilft the Pa- " flor is bufy in his Stud}'', or in the Pulpit, to con- " fute an Advcrfary whom he never faw, or to " combate an Krror which is unknown to his Flock, *' the Sheep lofe themfelvcs, his Hearers continue " prepofTefied with the moft Mortal Errors concern- " ing Morality, and engaged in their bad Habits." See here the Depofitions of unfufpedled irreproach- able Witneflcs. I wifh I could fay, to the Praife of thofe to whom thcfe jnft Reproaches are directed, that

" Mr. RernarJ Ute Prnfrjfor of PiiiJofofhj and Mathtmatuht in the Univer/tty^ and r^,?cr o///,e Walloon Church at Leyclen.

* Novemb. 1609. Accour.tofthe Botk <r,titJed, des Sonrctde fs Corrupcion, p. y&a, 583, ySj.

( 7A )

that they begin to open their tjesy and alter (heir Method. Eur I fear very much, that the greatell Part of them have been already a long Time under this PrepolTeifion, fo contra}^ to the Obligations of their Miniftry, that an ardenf Zeal for fpeculative OpiniDns,which don't coll much to underlland, and in the Support of which they find their Account, difpenfes with their applying themfelves to a feri-^ ous Study of Morality, which requires profound' Meditation, and the Knowledge of '^ more than com- mon Places. This would be a good Deed, if they would let alone thofe who do their beft in what they themfelves ought to do. But their PredeceiTors have fet 'em an Example, and thej^ are unwilling to degenerate. In Realit}^ who was it that introduced, in the paft Age, the methodical Study of the Law of Nature and firfl undertook to giveaSyftem of this fo vail: and fo neceffary a Science ? They were not Ecclefiafticks, or Divines b}' Profelfion ^ Itwasthe^ illuftriousG-'oii/w, whofe Memory will always be bleiTed, upon this Head, by all fincere Lovers of Truth and Vertue ^ though he had not acquired to himfelf an immortal Reputation, by a great many l?erformances of another Nature, all excellent in tjieir Kind. Neverthelefs, when that admirable Treatife of the Law of 7/^arard Peace (De Jure belli & pads) appeared, the Ecclefiafticks, infleid of thanking the Author for .it, took up Arms againft ^im : And he was not only put in the hidex Expur- gatorhis of ihtRcman Catholic Inquifitors, (I fhould jnot be furprized at that) but likewife divers Prote- ftant Divines endeavoured to run it down. The fame Thing happened to the Book I am here giving you the Tranflation of. The Jefuits of Viemia caufed it to be prohibited •, and it was not the Fault of divers Protefliant Divines o[ Swedejt and Germavy, that this excellent Work did riot every where meet with the fame Lot. _«___ __

» See M. Bernard'^ ReficCl'tom in his Rep, desLettr. April 1706. Art,l. which drevf jtPon him afenfekfsLibelfrom a HnleFttnc\iMiaiJi$r»

F I N f S.

I'l

HE K i at • I • I fr ft > i I I i II > i ¥ Y 1 i I

* JillM^M^».t-t • • » I • 1 I I » i

s»

1_» I T 1 > >

y r 1

I • • ft I I ft • • t t 1 I I I • i • I y%\ r r i .*.•-■ *-M » • » » « » • I I I i 1 I 1 1 r IT

'-•.•^•-.•^•.* ft ft • ft ft • I I I i 1 i » J > % 1

.M-«*».*A».» ftftftftiiifts J I J ft ft »>

i^t^t i.».M*».» I ft • I • I • I 11 1 ft ft ft II

•.t ».ft.ft^».ft iftftftftiiiia 1 ft ft ft » If »

*-M-«**.M.«.»-*^».» I I • • i 3 ft ft ft ft ft ft 1 .*.*«9.ft^t t ft ft ft ft • ft a I I ft I a ft t » fti ft ft

L».t^t.8 •.• • ft ft • ft ■ • I I • It ft ft I ft ft ft

t i_t ftft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft I ft ft I ft ft ft if »( ft V

«.t«ft. a.ft ft I • ft ft ft i.*.0.*.t a ft i ft ft ft

I • I ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft p' ft in"iX«"i'»'»'«'»'»'»'» •«*»*•?! VftVftVft'ft

A*. ).*.i t ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft^icft ft ft K ft ft it

ft t ii > ft ft ft ft a ft i ft ft ft ft£ m ft ft K at ft ft ft* .t^i^i I ft.t ft^ft ft I I ft ft ftVftrft 6 iftVi ■

.-^t^c^t ] ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft^ ft ft ft: ft ft ft ft"r LtJ>^» •.• • » • i a ft ft ft ft ftfftVft ftfft ft ft i

i^ft 1 a a a ft ft ft a ft ft ft • n, i *- -^^- ^ - - - t^M 1 ft a ft a a a ft ft » ft ft- ^ '^ » ft a a ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft

_^j ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ftL ft. s a ft a ft ft ft ft ftLftK '& i9 a ft ft ft.ft ft ft ft .„,„ ft } ft ft ft ft s^ ft ft ft * :

•.«J^» » • ft ft »:. ft. ft: ft. aLftc ^IJI t 1 ft ft ft ft ft ft ft f s.ftjr 1 t ft a ft ft ft fte at ,

•!ri • ft ft ft ft, ftT' ft:i[ '

9^ P^J^K^ ft ft KjFi

^ft^t ft ft ft ft ft^JO

ftjl, i^ft, ft:c(„iJaOE

_ 1 ' ft-^t: ft-: ftrat: fti

\1iV€VVA

x«<«?

itm:*

' ' t..'4. <^ 'l[.€'

IP

*i,**-,^'*:^*i.

if 'Si )M'

« 1 1 f C t • fill fl I J I I i 1 • 1 • 1 I I

ft rj € i i i I I • • « • I i • 1 Vii 1 i 1

SJJJt f t « t • f • « III I 11 11 1 11 c

frrcf«ft«ifi« i It if 1 1 ill i

JK < C,t « « < 4 « ^ f « i ft i • • .« *J*^* < < t f < .1 • 4 4 .4 4 4 44

4 « 4 4 4 4

4 4 4 1 « «

.4444 m 4 i

.4 4 4 14 4

*-f € r4Ji I

1^4 4 4

14'

1 i.t ■ f

iji 1 1 . • r 1 1

^ # i^ ir* #' ^ ^

* *

•liijfe

? * >

at"

ipP^JlS*:

.1 lit. II It. at i, I i » i I » I i t i i t t 1 T > >

•.■.*«M**.» *A • i • • I • • 1 > 1 1 1 IT ^1 » 1 • • » » t t i • 1 t i t 1 1 1 It > It

.--M.'^»-.M.» • t 1 » • I I t » 1 1 5 1 1 IT

.t.f.t.i^i t iiitiiaiiiii»» » ft V ft .•„•!».•.•.• • • I • • ft » I i ft I i ft ft » •( » i*

Vl.ti«.l • ft I ft ft ft I I ft I ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft iTft

„i_t-i.» ».•.••. it. t^ft^ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ftViTft

L*^(^^.* S ft I ft ft ft ft ft ft I ft ftt ft t ftv IL t ft ft ft

.t^K^Y.t I ft • i ft ft. ft ft ft ft^ftff:ft ft ft K ft R ft i

ft • r ).ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft^n • i iMK ftf W

1^ I ft ft ft ft ft ft I ft ft ftb ft^ ft^ ft ^"wVk k

it ft ft ft ft ft ft ft » ft ft Kft ft » ft K r

*i.»-».«.» *k«^» » * «^ t ftTftt ft ft ft

L ■>' ft I ft. ft': V'

ft: ft ft ft ft ft I

k ft. ii ft: ft ft ft

ft.. ft ftr'lr:,ft ft'i

,yir ft^ft ftuft, K. k; ftLftv ft ft: ft: '

K'.ft^ft:ftjLftrfc c «■ ft- ft ■

ft ft: ft. I

I: ft: ^ ■

^Illit^^W

t

ft 4

ViViV

•!

»?

5*

'2

,^^vi^V*^^^.^^WW»^^ •

"4 t ■:

^- M M i4 "^

M'M^itVm-