II. Z. Αλλ' εἰς οἶκον ἴὅσα τὰ αὐτῆς ἔργα κόμιζε. Melania, the younger, had the same kind of zeal, and was much admired for it. Piniano juncta erat, juveni nobilissimo, quem duorum filiorum patrem fecerat. Tantum eam cœpit odium matrimonii, ut dixerit marito suo Piniano filio Severi, qui erat ex Præfectis, Si volueris quidem habitare mecum ut ratio dictat, te dominum agnosco. Sin autem hoc tibi grave videtur utpote juveni, res omnes meas tibi habe, et solum sine me esse corpore liberam, Deus postea misertus adolescentis, ei zelum pietatis immisit. Cum ergo nupsisset viro, tredecim annos nata, septem vero cum eo vixisset, vigesimo ætatis suæ anno mundo renunciat. Pallad. Laus. Omnia sua serica integumenta dedit altaribus, parteque prædiorum longe maximá distractâ, collectam pecuniam in Palestinam, Egyptum, aliasque regiones pauperibus Monachisque distribuendam misit. S. Basnage Ann. iii. 228. This was A. D, 408. Ambrose was one of the violent declaimers in favour of virginity, and in a treatise on that subject he exhorts girls to enter into Nunneries, though against the will of their parents, which was highly indiscreet, to say no more, and which gave great offence to many Christians, even in those days. De Virgin. See Barbeyrac. Du Pin, T. ii. p. 246. Constantine had a great desire to accomplish two very laudable designs: the first was to propagate Christianity and to convert unbelievers; the other *No more-but hasten to thy tasks at home, was was to reunite Christians, and to compose their dif ferences. In the first attempt he succeeded in some measure, but along with those who were sincere in their profession, there came a multitude of hypocrites and nominal Christians: the latter project he soon found to be impracticable. In the persecution A. D. 303. Christians were required to give up their sacred books. They who complied were called Traditores. Mensurius, bishop of Carthage, was suspected of this fault, for which, and for other reasons, Donatus and his partizans refused to hold communion with him; and thus began the schism of the Donatists, which continued three hundred years, and overspread the provinces of Afric. Constantine took fruitless pains to settle this affair by councils and hearings, and finding the Donatists extremely refractory, he was provoked to use rough methods, and to banish their ringleaders; but afterwards he recalled them and gave them up, as he said, like incorrigible fools, to their own madness. Those schismatics who wrangle in good earnest about trifles, have an incurable understanding and are unpersuadeable, and would fall out with themselves, if they had none else to oppose. About the same time brake out the Arian controversy, which made more noise, and did more mischief. It was the occasion of innumerable lies, slanders, forgeries, pretended miracles, persecutions, banishments, seditions, and murders, of many false and partial histories, and of a multitude of councils which produced only confusion and discord. An evil dæmon, says Eusebius, who envied the peace and prosperity of the Church, set us at variance, At او At seva e speculis tempus Dea nacta nocendi Ardua tecta petit stabuli; et de culmine summo Pastorale canit signum, cornuque recurvo Tartaream intendit vocem : qua protenus omne Contremuit nemus, et silve intonuere profunde. Audit et Trivie longe lacus, audiit amnis Sulfurea Nar albus aqua, fontesque Velini: Et trepide matres pressere ad pectora natos. Here also Constantine laboured in vain to bring things to an accommodation: the most probable way to effect it was not put in execution. Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, and Arius, who was a presbyter in his diocese, disputed together about the nature of Christ † ; and the bishop being displeased at the notions of Arius, and finding that they were adopted by other persons, was very angry, says Socrates, πρὸς ὀργὴν ἐξάπλεται. He commanded Arius to come over to his sentiments, and to quit his own: as if a man could change his opinions as easily as he can change his coat! zòr Αρειον ὁμοίως φρονῶν ἐκέλευσε. Soz. He then called a council of war, consisting of near an hundred bishops, and deposed, excommunicated, and anathematized Arius, and with him several ecclesiastics, two of whom were bishops. Ille dies primus leti primusque malorum Caussa fuit. The Benedictin editors of Athanasius tell us that Alexander was as mild as a lamb, vir mitis et pacis amans. Others will think perhaps that he and his Virg. Æn. vii. §11. assessors Si ulla pars est Theologiæ, in qua facile est aut errare aut accusari, est illa de Trinitate. Grotius. assessors were too expeditious in passing sentence, and ready to turn a brother out of doors without much ceremony. Collige sarcinulas exclamat Præsul, et exi Ocius, et propera. Alexander then wrote a circular letter to all bishops, in which he represents Arius and his partizans as heretics, apostates, blasphemers, enemies of God, full of impudence and impiety, forerunners of Antichrist, imitators of Judas, and men whom it was not lawful to salute, or to bid God speed. Yet Sozomen acknowledges that they were learned men, and in all appearance good men. Cum igitur Alexander multos sanctioris vitæ specie venerabiles, et dicendi arte pollentes Arianis favere animadverteret, ac præcipue Eusebium, qui tunc temporis Nicomediensem Ecclesiam gubernabat, virum doctissimum, magneque in palatio auctoritatis, cunctis ubique Episcopis scripset, ne cum illis communicarent. Soz. i. 15. At vero Eusebius, et alii quidam Orientalium partium Episcopi, qui tum doctrinæ tum sanctitatis causa per id tempus celeberrimi habebantur.-Idem iii. 18. Theodoret himself says of Basilius Ancyranus and Eustathius Sebastenus, who were Semiarian bishops. Porro ambo familiares erant Imperatori (Constantio) et ob eximiam vitæ sanctimoniam summa apud eum auctoritate et fiducia pollebant. ii. 25. There is no reason to doubt of the probity and sincerity of those who opposed Alexander and the Nicene Fathers for what did they get by it, besides obloquy, and banishment? Many good men were engaged on both sides of the controversy: So it was in the fourth century, and so it hath been ever since. In the same epistle, Alexander is very severe upon Eusebius of Nicomedia, who afterwards was the head of the Arian party. In defence of the divinity and eternity of the Son he uses arguments which are not all of them conclusive, and brings texts of Scripture, of which some are, and others are not to the purpose. Το prove the eternity of the Adyor, he cites Psal. xlv. 1. My heart is inditing a good matter. In the Greek, Εξερεύξατο ἡ καρδία με λόγον ayabór. To this he adds another proof, which shews that he was a passable cabbalist: Solomon, says he, declares, Prov. xxx. 19. that it is impossible to find out the way of a serpent upon a rock; which rock, as St Paul tells us, is Christ. How hardened and perverse must those men have been, who could withstand such evidence!! He declares that the Son is from all eternity, immutable, and perfectly like the Father in all things, excepting that he is not unbegotten, or self-existing ; that upon this account the Father is greater than the Son, and that the Son is of a middle nature between the First Cause of all things, and the creatures, which from a state of non-existence were called into being.-por τῷ ἀγεννήτῳ λειπόμενον ἐκείνα—ὡς αὐτὸς ἐπαίδευσεν ὁ Κύριος. ὁ ΠαIng μs, xéywr, μeiswr us isír-hoc solo inferiorem Patre, quod ingenitus non est―sicut ipse Dominus docuit, cum ait, Pater major me est, &c. And again :—μangòv är än μeΤαξὺ Πατρὸς ἀγεννήτε καὶ τῶν κλισθέντων ὑπ ̓ αὐτῷ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων—ών μεσιλεύσσα ΦΥΣΙΣ μονογενής, δι' ἧς τὰ ὅλα ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐποίησεν ὁ Πατὴρ τὸ θεὸ Λόγο, ἡ ἐξ αὐτὸ τὸ ὄνος Πατρὸς γεγένηται.—multum interest inter Patrem ingenitum et res ab illo creatas ex nihilo.-Inter que duo medium obtinens unigenita natura Dei Verbi, per quam Pater universa condidit ex ni |