ing any hesitation or doubt respecting their genuineness; in which he is followed by writers of the present day."

The modern works, to which reference is here made, are chiefly the Lectures delivered by Dr. Wiseman, in the Roman Catholic Chapel in Moorfields in the year 1836, and the compilation' of Messrs. Berington and Kirk, from which Dr. Wiseman in his preface to his Lectures (p. ix.) informs us, that in general he had drawn his quotations of the Fathers. In citing the testimony of Origen in support of the invocation of saints, it is evident that Dr. Wiseman has drawn from that source; for whereas the two confessedly spurious passages, from the Lament, and from the Book on Job, are in that compilation quoted in the same page, Dr. Wiseman cites only the passage from the Lament, as from a work on the Lamentations, but gives his reference to the Book on Job. His words are these :- Again he (Origen) thus writes on the Lamentations: 'I will fall down on my knees, and not presuming, on account of my crimes, to present my prayer to God, I will invoke all the saints to my assistance. O ye saints of heaven, I beseech you with a sorrow full of sighs and tears; fall at the feet of the Lord of mercies for me, a miserable sinner.'-Lib. ii. De Job 2."

When we find such passages as these, which have been so long ago and so repeatedly pronounced to be utterly spurious, yet cited in evidence at the present time, and represented as conveying the genuine testimony of Origen, we shall be pardoned for repeating the sentiments expressed so many years ago by the learned Bishop of Avranches with regard to the very work here cited, "It is wonderful that, WITHOUT ANY MARK OF THEIR BEING FORGERIES, they should be sometimes cited in evidence by some theologians."

Note.-Page 151.

The whole passage cited as Origen's comment on the words of Ezekiel, "The heavens are opened," is in the Latin version as follows. The Greek original, if it ever existed, is lost. The portion between brackets is the part suspected of being an interpolation.

6. Et aperti sunt cæli. Clausi erant cœli, et ad adventum Christi aperti sunt, ut reseratis illis veniret super eum Spiritus Sanctus in specie columbæ. Neque enim poterat ad nos commeare nisi primum 1 Berington and Kirk. London, 1830, p. 403.

2 Lectures on the Principal Doctrines and Practices of the Catholic Church, by Nicholas Wiseman, D.D. London, 1836. Vol. i. preface, p. ix. and vol. ii. p. 107.

ad suæ naturæ consortem descendisset. Ascendit Jesus in altum, captivam duxit captivitatem, accepit dona in hominibus. Qui descendit, ipse est qui ascendit super omnes cœlos ut impleret omnia. Et ipse dedit alios apostolos, alios prophetas, alios evangelistas, alios pastores et magistros in perfectionem sanctorum.

[7. Aperti sunt cæli. Non sufficit unum cœlum aperiri : aperiuntur plurimi, ut descendant non ab uno, sed ab omnibus cœlis angeli ad eos qui salvandi sunt. Angeli qui ascendebant et descendebant super Filium hominis, et accesserunt ad eum, et ministrabant ei. Descenderunt autem angeli, quia prior descenderat Christus, metuentes descendere priusquam Dominus virtutum omnium rerumque præciperet. Quando autem viderunt principem militiæ cœlestis in terrestribus locis commorari, tunc per apertam viam ingressi sunt sequentes Dominum suum, et parentes voluntati ejus qui distribuit eos custodes credentium nomini suo. Tu heri sub dæmonio eras, hodie sub angelo. Nolite, inquit Dominus, contemnere unum de minimis istis qui sunt in ecclesia. Amen enim dico vobis, quia angeli eorum per omnia vident faciem Patris qui est in cœlis. Obsequuntur saluti tuæ angeli, concessi sunt ad ministerium Filii Dei, et dicunt inter se si ille descendit, et descendit in corpus; si mortali indutus est carne, et sustinuit crucem, et pro hominibus mortuus est, quid nos quiescimus? quid parcimus nobis? Eja omnes angeli descendamus e cœlo. Ideo et multitudo militiæ cœlestis erat laudantium et glorificantium Deum, quando natus est Christus. Omnia angelis plena sunt veni, angele, suscipe sermone conversum ab errore pristino, a doctrina dæmoniorum, ab iniquitate in altum loquente: et suscipiens eum quasi medicus bonus confove atque institue, parvulus est, hodie nascitur senex repuerascens : et suscipe tribuens ei baptismum secundæ regenerationis, et advoca tibi alios socios ministerii tui, ut cuncti pariter eos qui aliquando decepti sunt, erudiatis ad fidem. Gaudium enim est majus in cœlis super unum peccatorem poenitentiam agentem, quam supra nonaginta novem justos quibus non opus est pœnitentia. Exultat omnis creatura, collætatur et applaudit his qui salvandi sunt. Nam expectatio creaturæ revelationem filiorum Dei expectat. Et licet nolint ii qui scripturas apostolicas interpolaverunt istiusmodi sermones inesse libris eorum quibus possit Creator Christus approbari, expectat tamen omnis creatura filios Dei, quando liberentur a delicto, quando auferentur de Zabuli manu, quando regenerentur a Christo. Verum jam tempus est, ut de præsenti loco aliqua tangamus. Vidit Propheta non visionem, sed visiones Dei.

Quare non vidit unam, sed plurimas visiones? Audi Dominum pollicentem atque dicentem: Ego visiones multiplicavi. 8. Quinta mensis. Hic annus quinta captivitatis regis Joachim. Trigesimo anno ætatis Ezekielis, et quinto captivitatis Joachim, Propheta mittitur ad Judæos. Non despexit clementissimus pater, nec longo tempore incommonitum populum dereliquit. Quintus est annus. Quantum temporis intercessit? Quinque anni interfluxerunt ex quo captivi serviunt.]

Statim descendit Spiritus Sanctus, aperuit cœlos, ut hi qui captivitatis jugo premebantur, viderent ea quæ videbantur a Propheta. Dicente quippe eo, Et aperti sunt cæli, quodam modo et ipsi intuebantur oculis cordis quæ ille etiam oculis carnis aspexerat.—Vol. iii. p. 358.

Note.-Page 165.

In a note on the Epistle of St. Cyprian to his brother, reference was made to the Appendix for a closer comparison of Cyprian's original letter with the modern translation of the passage under consideration. By placing the two versions in parallel columns side by side, we shall immediately see, that the mode of citing the testimony of St. Cyprian adopted in Dr. Wiseman's Lectures, from the compilation of Messrs. Berington and Kirk, is rather to substitute his own comment and inference, than to allow the witness to speak for himself in his own words. The whole paragraph, as it appears in Dr. Wiseman's Lectures', is this:

"St. Cyprian in the same century: 'Let us be mindful of one another in our prayers; with one mind and with one heart, in this world and in the next, let us always pray with mutual charity relieving our sufferings and afflictions. And may the charity of him, who, by the divine favour, shall first depart hence, still persevere before the Lord; may his prayer, for our brethren and sisters, not cease.' Therefore, after having departed this life, the same offices of charity are to continue, by praying for those who remain on earth."

St. Cyprian's words.-Epist. lvii. Translation adopted by Dr. Wisep. 96.

1. Memores nostri invicem simus,

man from Berington and Kirk.

1. Let us be mindful of one another IN OUR PRAYERS;

1 Lect. xiii. vol. ii. p. 107, and Berington and Kirk, p. 430.

2. Concordes atque unanimes,

3. Utrobique.

4. PRO NOBIS semper oremus, 5. Pressuras et angustias mutua caritate relevemus,

6. Et si quis istinc nostrum prior divinæ dignationis celeritate præcesserit, perseveret apud Dominum NOSTRA DILECTIO,

7. Pro fratribus et sororibus nostris apud misericordiam patris

non cesset oratio.

2. With one mind and with one heart,

3. In this world and in the next,

4. Let us always pray,

5. With mutual charity RELIEVING Our sufferings and afflictions.

6. And may the CHARITY OF HIM, who, by the divine favour, shall first depart hence, still persevere before the Lord;

7. May HIS prayer, for our brethren and sisters, not cease.

In this translation, by inserting the words, in our prayers, which are not in the original in the first clause; by rendering the adverb utrobique, IN THIS WORLD AND IN THE NEXT, in the third clause; by omitting the words pro nobis, for each other, which are in the original, in the fourth clause; by changing in the fifth the verb relevemus, let us relieve, implying another branch of their mutual kindness, into the participle relieving, which may imply, that the relief alluded to was also to be conveyed by the medium of their prayers; by substituting the charity of him, in place of nostra dilectio, our charity, in the sixth; and by inserting the word his, which is not in the original, before prayer, where the grammar of the sentence requires our, in the seventh clause ;-by these means the translator makes Cyprian express a sentiment far removed from what the words of Cyprian, in their plain and natural sense, convey. It must, however, be borne in mind, as we have shown in our examination of the passage, that the sentiment of Cyprian, even as it is thus unduly extracted from his words, would not in the remotest degree countenance the invocation of saints. It would do no more than imply his belief, that the faithful departed may take an interest in the welfare of their surviving friends on earth, and promote that welfare by their prayers; a point which, in the preface, is mentioned as one of those topics, the discussion of which would be avoided in this inquiry, as quite distinct from the invocation of saints.

Note.-Page 176.

An extract from Eusebius, unnoticed in the text of this work, has recently been cited as conveying his testimony in favour of the invocation of saints. I have judged it better to defer the consideration of it to the appendix. It has been cited in these terms': "In the fourth century Eusebius of Cæsarea thus writes: May we be found worthy by the prayers and intercessions of all the saints."" To form a just estimate of this alleged testimony, it is requisite that we have before us not only that incomplete clause, but the whole passage purporting to contain, in these words, the closing sentences of a commentary on Isaiah 2:

"And they shall be for a spectacle to all flesh.' To what flesh? Altogether to that which shall be somewhere punished? Nay, to that which shall of the heavenly vision be deemed worthy, concerning which it was said before, All flesh shall come to worship before me, of which may we also be deemed worthy by the prayers and intercessions of all the saints. Amen."

In examining this passage I am willing for the present that all its clauses should be accepted as the genuine words of Eusebius, and accepted too in the meaning attached to them by those who have cited them. And to what do they amount? If these are indeed his expressions, Eusebius believed that the saints departed can forward our spiritual welfare by their prayers and ministering offices; and he uttered his desire that we might thus be benefited. Now whether we agree with him or not in that belief; whether we consider the faithful departed as able to take an interest in our welfare and to promote it, or regard such an opinion as without foundation in the word of God and in primitive doctrine; the belief implied and the wish expressed here by Eusebius, are widely indeed removed from the act of suppliantly invoking the saints departed, and resorting to them with entreaties for their prayers and intercessions in our behalf. These two things, although often confounded, are far from being equivalent; and by all who would investigate with fairness the subject of our inquiry, they must be carefully kept distinct. The invocation of saints being the single point in question, our business is to ascertain, not what opinions Eusebius may have

1 Dr. Wiseman's Lectures, vol. ii. p. 107. Lect. xiii. Berington and Kirk, p. 431. 2 Tom. ii. p. 593, ed. Paris, 1707. Dr. Wiseman's reference is 'Com. in Isai. Tom. ii. p. 593, ed. Paris, 1706.'