not equally respected with the other books of the New Testament, he might have said so. He might have made two sorts or divisions of sacred books; some universally received, and respected as divine and canonical, and others, which were not of that high authority, and about which some had doubts.

8. However, we here plainly see what are the books of scripture, which are generally received by the Syrian christians. And we are much obliged to Dr. Joseph Asseman for giving us the Catalogue of Ebedjesu, as he found it in the manuscript; which another editor of that Catalogue did not do, but of his own head added the epistle of Jude and thes Revelation. He also struck out the word three, saying, instead of three epistles, the epistles, that is, of James, Peter, John, and Jude, which are called catholic; for which he has been justly censured by that honest man, and excellent writer, the late Isaac Beausobre.

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9. They who are desirous to inform themselves concerning the Syriac version or versions of the New Testament, may consult, beside" others, Fabricius," Asseman, and Wetstein.

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Tres epistolas.] Jacobi scilicet, Petri, et Joannis. Ita habet Sobensis in manuscripto nostro codice. At Echellensis in Catalogo impresso p. 8, et 9, hunc locum sic edidit: Epistolæ consignatæ ab apostolis omni charactere et linguâ nempe Jacobo, Petro, Joanne, et Judâ; et ideo catholicæ vocantur.' Ubi nomen Judæ, ut mihi videtur, de suo adjiciens, vocem illam, tres ' epistolæ,' in hanc, Epistolæ,' mutavit, contra metri Syriaci rationem, et contra ipsius Sobensis mentem, qui ex communi Syrorum sententia tres tantum canonicas epistolas recenset, quarum scilicet de auctoritate Syri nunquam dubitarunt, quæque ab initio inter canonicos libros in Syriacâ Versione Simplici collocatæ sunt. [Vid. reliqua supr. p. 323. note '.] Assem. Bib. Or. T. iii. p. 9. notis.

Echellensis p. 15 post epistolam Pauli ad Hebræos hæc verba de Joannis Apocalypsi addit, quæ in textu Sobensis desiderantur: Revelatio Joannis Græce scripta est in insulâ Patmi.' Præter argumenta, quæ supra adduxi, vel ipsa metri heptasyllabi ratio, quæ hic nulla est, hanc appendiculam e genuino Sobensis Catalogo excludit. Id. ib. p. 10. in notis.

'Aussi Ebedjesu n' a-t-il mis dans son Catalogue ni les quartre autres Epîtres, ni l'Apocalypse. Mais Abraham Echellensis, qui avoit publié ce Catalogue avant M. Asseman, n'a pas fait difficulté d' y ajoûter l' Epître de S. Jude, et de mettre, après l'article des Epîtres de S. Paul; la Revelation de 'S. Jean a été écrite en Grec dans l' isle de Patmos,' C'est un echantillon remarquable de la mauvaise foi de ce Maronite, &c. Hist. de Manich. T. i. p. 295. "Edw. Pocock's Preface to his Commentary upon the Prophecy of Micah, and elsewhere. Br. Walton. Prolegom. ap. Bibl. Polyglott. n. xiii. De Linguâ Syriacâ et Scripturæ Versionibus Syriacis. Fr. Spanh. T. i. p. 650. Fr. Ad. Lamp. Prolegom. ad Joan. 1. i. c. 4. ver. 7. Jer. Jones on the Canon of the N. T. Vol. i. p. 105-144. Fabr. Bib. Gr. T. iii. p. 201, 202. T. v. p. 320, 321. Asseman. Bib. Or. T. ii. c. xiii. De Tho. Heracl. p. 90-94. Vid. ib. cap. x. p. 82, 83. et p. 23. et p. 307. b. et alibi. * J. J. Wetsten. Prolegom. ad N. T. Gr. edit. accurat. cap. ix. et Prolegom. ad N. T. Gr. p. 109, 112.

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CHAP. CIV.

PACIAN, BISHOP OF BARCELONA.

1. PACIAN, bishop of Barcelona, is in Jerom's Catalogue. I place the chapter below. He flourished about the year 370, and died an old man before 390.

2. Pacian had a son named Flavius Dexter, to whom Jerom inscribed his Catalogue, at whose request it was composed. Dexter was in several high offices of the empire, and for a time præfect of the prætorium. He had also a place in Jerom's Catalogue, as an ecclesiastical writer; though the work mentioned by Jerom is not universally allowed to be now extant.

3. Jerom says, that Pacian wrote several small tracts, particularly against the Novatians. And we still have his three letters to Sympronian a Novatian, and an Exhortation to Repentance, and a Discourse of Baptism: but the genuineness of this last is not very manifest. Pacian was quoted by us formerly in the history of the Novatians for a more particular account of him and his writings I refer to others.

:

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4. I observe only, as suited to my present design, that Pacian has several times quoted the book of Canticles, and the commonly received books of the New Testament, particularly the Acts of the Apostles, and also the book of the Revelation. But I do not see any quotation of the epistle to the Hebrews, nor any plain reference to it, though it be sometimes put in the margin by the editor.

* Pacianus, in Pyrenæi jugis Barcelona episcopus, castitate et eloquentiâ, et tam vitâ quam sermone clarus, scripsit varia opuscula, de quibus et Cervus, et contra Novatianos. Sub Theodosio principe, jam ultimâ senectute mortuus est. De V. I. cap. 106.

b Hortaris, Dexter, ut, Tranquillum sequens, Ecclesiasticos Scriptores in ordinem digeram, et quod ille in enumerandis Gentilium literarum viris fecit illustribus, ego in nostris faciam. Prol. in libr. de V. I.

Unde etiam ante annos ferme decem, quum Dexter amicus meus, qui præfecturam administravit prætorii, me rogâsset, ut auctorum nostræ religionis ei indicem texerem, &c. Adv. Ruf. 1. ii. T. iv. p. 419. m.

Dexter, Paciani (de quo supra dixi) filius, clarus apud sæculum, et Christi fidei deditus, fertur ad me omnimodam historiam texuisse, quam necdum legi. De V. I. cap. 132.

d Ap. B. PP. T. iv. p. 305-319.

• Vol. iii. p. 91.

Vid. Cav. H. L. T. i. Fabr. ad Hieron. de V. I. cap. 106. et Bib. Lat. Vol. iii. p. 428. Du Pin, Bib. T. ii. p. 101. Tillem. Mem. T. viii. p. 537, et seq.

CHAP. CV.

OPTATUS OF MILEVI.

1. SAYS Jerom: Optatus of Africa, bishop of Milevi, in the time of the emperors Valentinian and Valens, wrote 'a work in six books in defence of the catholics against the 'Donatists.'

2. The city of Milevi was situated in Numidia. Jerom says, that Optatus wrote under the emperors Valentinian and Valens, that is, between 364 and 375; from which, and from some other considerations, Tillemont concludes, that his work was published about the year 370: which is little different from Cave, who placeth this writer at 368. For a particular account of Optatus, and his work, I refer to b several moderns.

3. Divers testimonies to him in ancient writers may be seen prefixed to his works, and are taken notice of by Tillemont at the beginning of his article concerning him. I add to that already taken from Jerom, one from Augustine, where he reckons Optatus with Cyprian, and others, who had come over from gentilism to christianity, and had brought with them the riches of the Egyptians, that is, learning and eloquence, to the no small advantage of the christian interests.

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4. Beside many other books of the Old Testament, Optatus has quoted the Canticles several times; he once quotes the book of Wisdom, as Solomon's: he has also quoted f Tobit, and Ecclesiasticus.

a Optatus Afer, episcopus Milevitanus, ex parte catholicâ, scripsit, Valentiniano et Valente principibus, adversus Donatianæ partis calumniam libros sex; in quibus asserit, crimen Donatianum in nos falso retorqueri. D. V. I. 110.

cap. Cav. H. Lit. T. i. p. 234. S. Basnag. ann. 368. n. ix. Du Pin, Bib. des Aut. Ec. T. ii. p. 109-122. et Pref. ad Optat. Fleury's Ec. Hist. B. 16. ch. xl. Tillemont, Les Donatistes, Art. 58. Mem. T. vi. Fabr. Bib. Ec. ad Hieron. De V. I. cap. 110. et Bib. Lat. T. iii. p. 425.

Nonne adspicimus, quanto auro et argento et veste suffarcinatus exierit de Ægypto Cyprianus doctor suavissimus, et martyr beatissimus? quanto Lactantius? quanto Victorinus, Optatus, Hilarius? Ut de vivis taceam. Quanto innumerabiles Græci? De Doctr. Christian. 1. ii. cap. 40. n. 61. T. iii. d Optat. 1. i. cap. 10. bis. 1. ii. cap. 8. 1. iii. cap. 3. 1. iv. cap. 6.

e Cum scriptum sit in Salomone; Deus mortem non fecit, nec lætatur in 'perditione vivorum.' Sap. i. 13. l. ii. c. 25.

f

-qui, in lectione Patriarchæ Tobiæ, legitur in Tigride flumine prehensus. 1. iii. c. 2. 8 L. iii. c. 3. bis.

5. In the New Testament, beside the gospels, he has quoted the book of the Acts, and several of St. Paul's epistles, and the first and second epistle of St. John.

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6. Jerom computed the works of Optatus to consist of six books; whereas we now have seven. Concerning this difficulty may be seen the authors, to whom I have already referred.

7. There is a passage, which has been supposed a part of the seventh book; which some have alleged, as a proof, that Optatus received the epistle to the Hebrews. But supposing the passage to be genuine, it is of no importance: it appearing plainly, that m Optatus quotes not an apostle, but a prophet, and intends not Heb. viii. 8-11, but Jer. xxxi. 31-33; as has been fully shown by my highly esteemed friend, the late Mr. Joseph Hallet, in his Introduction" to the epistle to the Hebrews in English; or his Dissertation concerning the author and language of that epistle, as translated into Latin, and inserted by the learned J. C. Wolfius in the fourth tome of his Curæ ° upon the New Testament. So that there is no proof, that Optatus received the epistle to the Hebrews. However, as this work is not very long, and Optatus does not abound with quotations of texts of scripture; we cannot say certainly, what books were received by him, and what not. We need make no doubt, but he received all such as were generally received by other christians in Africa, in his time.

8. I need not produce here any proofs of his respect for the sacred scriptures of the Old and New Testament, about which there can be no question. And besides, some passages of his to this purpose were alleged formerly, in the chapters P concerning the burning the scriptures in the time of Dioclesian's persecution, and the history of the Donatists.

9. Remarks upon Optatus's performance may be seen in James Basnage's History of the Church.

b L. v. cap. 5.

i L. i. c. 15. l. ii. c. 19. 1. vii. c. 2.

* Ignorantes, de quibus apostolus hoc dixerit? Cum his nec cibum capere: Ave illi ne dixeritis.' [1 Cor. v. 11. et 2 Joh. 10.] L. iv. cap. 5.

1 Baron. ann. 60. n. L. Tr. Spanhem. de Auctor. Ep. ad. Hebr. 1. ii. cap. 7. n. viii. T. ii. p. 201.

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-legem indicavit Deus per prophetam dicens: Quoniam hoc est testamentum meum, quod disponam domui Israel et domui Judæ. Et post dies illos, dicit Dominus, dans leges meas in corde eorum, et in mentibus eorum scribam eas. Promisit hoc jamdudum, et proxime reddidit temporibus christianis. Optat. 1. vii. p. 108. edit. Du Pin.

n P. 18, 19.

P See Vol. iii. p. 549, 550.

'Hist. de l'Eglise, p. 185, 186.

• T. iv. 820, 821.

Ib. p. 564.

10. Le Clerc, in his preface to Kuster's edition of Mill's New Testament, has observed several of this author's quotations of texts, which Mill had taken no notice of in his collations of ancient writers. I shall put down here only one of them.

11. Luke ix. 50, " And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us." So in our copies but Optatus reads, " For he who is not against you, is for you." Which is also found in divers other authors, and in divers manuscripts and versions, as observed by Le Clerc, and also by Mill, Bengelius, and Mr. Wetstein, upon the place. Moreover this reading is approved by Mill and Bengelius.

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12. I shall add another text, not mentioned by Le Clerc, because he aimed at those quotations of Optatus, which had been omitted by Mill.

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Rom. xii. 13, "Distributing to the necessity of saints." Optatus instead of" necessity," or necessities, has "memories.' Du Pin in his notes upon that place of his author says, that Optatus followed a reading which was common in his time, but thinks" necessities" to be the true reading. On the contrary, Mill thinks "memories" to be right. He gives a good sense of the text, according to that reading: That we are here directed to remember with compassion poor and afflicted christians at a distance, and to relieve 'them.' He also alleges many authorities for that reading: but in my opinion, the passage of Clement of Rome, upon y which he relies very much, is far from being clear to his purpose. Bengelius thinks it of no value. Concerning this reading may be consulted the just-mentioned learned writer, and Wolfius.

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• Sic Christus ait: Nolite prohibere. vobis est.' L. v. c. 7.

Prolegom, n. 996.

'Qui enim non est contra vos, pro u In loc.

▾ Contra apostolum

facientes, qui ait; Memoriis sanctorum communicantes.' L. ii. c. 4.

* Attamen de necessitatibus et indigentiis sanctorum, hoc est, christianorum, intelligendum esse apostolum, longe verisimilius est. Sed excusandus Optatus, qui communem suo tempore lectionem secutus est. Du Pin, in loc. p. 33. * Ut nempe per uvalac intelligantur necessitates sanctorum absentium, Mill. in loc. Conf. Prolegom. n. 142. y Vid. Proleg. n. 142.

Nil huc facit Clementis Romani. Bengel. ad Rom. xii. 13.