13. Mill, for proving that Ambrose received the epistle of St. James, quotes a book, not? generally allowed to be his. There is supposed to be a reference to James i. 14, in an acknowledged work.

14. He expressly quotes the epistle of Jude.

15. I suppose it cannot be doubted, that he received all the catholic epistles.

16. Ambrose very often quotes the book of the Revelation, and ascribes it to John the apostle and evangelist.

S

17. Upon the whole, we see, that this celebrated bishop of Milan, in the latter part of the fourth century, received all the books of the New Testament which we receive, without any other. For there appears not in his works any particular regard to writings of Barnabas, or Clement, or Ignatius, or to the Recognitions, or Constitutions. From whence we may reasonably conclude, that these just-mentioned writings were not esteemed of authority by himself, or other christians at that time.

u

IV. His respect for the sacred scriptures is manifest. Ambrose was called to the episcopate from a secular course of life. For which reason he begs of God, to give him application, and necessary care to understand the scriptures. He proves what he advances by texts of scripture, and does not otherwise expect to be regarded. And he supposeth it to have been the practice of christians in ancient times, to form their belief by the holy scriptures. Ambrose " was a great admirer of the Psalms, upon divers of which he

• Unde-Ambrosius Mediolani- -Tract. de Mansionibus Filiorum Israël, mansione 18 epistolam Jacobi, tanquam apostoli, citavit. Mill. Prolegom. n. 206. P Vid. Benedictin. Monitum. T. ii. in Append. p. 1, 2. Vinculis enim peccatorum suorum unusquisque constringitur, sicut ipse legisti. In Ps. cxviii. T. i. p. 1071. B. Vid. Jac. i. 14.

cui dictum est ab angelo Michaële in epistolâ Judæ: Imperet tibi Dominus.' [ver. 9.] Exp. Ev. Luc. T. i. p. 1393. D.

Et ideo fortassis Joanni evangelistæ cœlum apertum et albus equus est demonstratus. [Ap. xix. 12-16.] In Ps. xl. p. 878. A.

Quomodo igitur ascendamus ad cœlum, docet evangelista, qui dicit.[Apoc. xxi. 10.] De Virginitat. cap. 14. T. ii. p. 234. D.

Sed tantummodo intentionem et diligentiam circa scripturas divinas opto adsequi. De Offic. Minist. 1. i. c. 1. T. i. p. 3.

"Sed nolo argumento credas, sancte Imperator, et nostræ disputationi. Scripturas interrogemus. Interrogemus apostolos, interrogemus prophetas, interrogemus Christum. De Fide, l. i. c. 6. T. ii. p. 451. Č.

Satis, ut arbitror, libro superiore, sancte Imperator,-scripturarum lectionibus approbavimus. De Fide, 1. ii. Prolog. p. 471. B.

Sic nempe nostri secundum scripturas dixerunt patres. De Fide, 1. i. c. 18. p. 467. C.

Etenim licet omnis scriptura divina Dei gratiam spiret, præcipue tamen dulcis Psalmorum liber. In Ps. i. Præf. n. iv. T. i. p. 738.

wrote commentaries, particularly upon the 119th Psalm, which are generally well esteemed.

V. Divisions of scripture found in him are such as these: prophets and apostles, Old and New Testament: the y prophetical and evangelical scriptures: the law and the prophets, agreeing with the gospel: the gospel, the apostles, and the prophets.

a

VI. There are some other things in Ambrose, which may be reckoned worthy of notice.

b

1. He quotes Mark xvi. 15. Therefore he had in his copies the latter part of that chapter.

2. Ambrose had in his copies the passage concerning the adulterous woman, which we now have in the 8th chapter of St. John's gospel.

3. He quotes 2 Tim. i. 14, after this manner: "That good thing, which was committed unto thee, keep by the Holy Ghost which is given to us."

4. He seems not to have had the heavenly witnesses, in his copies of the fifth chapter of St. John's first epistle.

5. He speaks of various readings in the Latin copies of the New Testament: some of which likewise, he says, had been corrupted; and he appeals to the original Greek.

* Clamat propheta sempiternum, clamat et apostolus sempiternum. Plenum est Vetus Testamentum testimoniis Filii sempiterni, plenum est Novum. De Fide, l. i. c. 8. T. ii. p. 454. C.

In quo nobis propheticæ scripturæ et evangelicæ suffragantur. Luc. 1. i. p. 1277. F.

Expos.

Lex et prophetæ cum evangelio congruentes. De Fide, l. i. c. 13. p. 460. D. a Cum igitur in evangelio, in apostolo, in prophetis generationem Christi legerimus. De Fide, l. i. c. 14. p. 462. D.

b Audivimus enim legi, dicente Domino: Ite in orbem universum, et prædicate evangelium universæ creaturæ.' De Fide, l. i. c. 14. p. 461. D. Vid. ep. 25, et 26. T. ii. p. 892-894.

d Bonum depositum custodi per Spiritum Sanctum, qui datus est nobis. Exp. Ev. Luc. 1. i. T. i. p. 1270. A.

Et ideo hi tres testes unum sunt, sicut Joannes dicit: Aqua, sanguis, et spiritus.' Unum in mysterio, non in naturâ. Aqua igitur est testis sepulturæ, Sanguis testis est mortis, Spiritus testis est vitæ. De Sp. S. 1. i. T. ii. c. 6. p. 616. &c.

Alibi quoque evangelista: Per aquam,' inquit, et Spiritum venit Christus Jesus, non solum in aquâ, sed per aquam et sanguinem. Et Spiritus testimonium dicit, quoniam Spiritus est veritas: quia tres sunt testes, Spiritus, aqua, sanguis. Et hi tres unum sunt.' De Sp. S. 1. iii. c. x. al. xi. p. 678. D.

Quod si quis de Latinorum codicum varietate contendit, quorum aliquos perfidi falsaverunt, Græcos inspiciat codices, et advertat, quia ibi scriptum est : Οἱ Πνεύματι θεε λατρεύοντες. Quod interpretatur Latinus: • Qui Spiritui Dei servimus. De Sp. S. 1. ii. c. x. p. 642. D. Conf. Mill. et Wolff. ad Philip. iii. 3.

CHAP. CVII.

6

THE PRISCILLIANISTS.

1. Jerom's chapter of Priscillian. II. III. Two chapters more of Jerom concerning Latronian and Tiberian, followers of Priscillian. IV. A chapter of Isidore of Seville concerning Idacius, one of Priscillian's accusers. V. The time of the rise of Priscillianism. VI. The history of Priscillian, and of his prosecution and execu tion at Treves, together with divers of his friends and followers, extracted from Sulpicius Severus. VII. An apology for Priscillian and his friends, in divers remarks upon that extract. VIII. The sentiments of the Priscillianists concerning the scriptures, and upon other points. IX. Charges of falsehood and lewdness brought against them by Jerom and Augustine considered. X. The like in pope Leo. XI. An article of Philaster in their favour. XII. The conclusion.

I. SAYS Jerom, Priscillian bishop of Abila, who by means of the faction of Hydatius and Ithacius was put to death at Treves, by order of the usurper Maximus, wrote many 'small pieces, some of which have reached us. To this

day he is accused by some, as having been of the Gnostic heresy, holding the same principles with Basilides and Marcion, mentioned by Irenæus. Others defend him, 'saying, that he did not hold the opinions imputed to him.' Jerom here says, that Priscillian had written many small pieces: and he seems to say that he had seen some of them. I do not recollect any thing of them to be now extant, except some passages of an epistle of his cited by Orosius in his Commonitorium, or Memoir, sent to Augustine; and they appear not a little obscure.

II. I must proceed to transcribe the two following chapters of Jerom's Catalogue, as nearly connected with the former, and because they will be of use to us hereafter.

Priscillianus Abilæ episcopus, qui factione Hydatii et Ithacii Treviris a Maximo tyranno cæsus est, edidit multa opuscula, de quibus ad nos aliqua pervenerunt. Hic usque hodie a nonnullis Gnosticæ, id est Basilidis et Marcionis, de quibus Irenæus scripsit, hæreseos accusatur, defendentibus aliis, non eum ita sensisse, ut arguitur. De V. I. cap. 121.

Latronian of Spain, a learned man, and for his poetical writings fit to be compared with the ancients, was also put to death at Treves, together with Priscillian, Felicissimus, Julian, and Euchrocia, leaders of the same faction. 'The monuments of his wit are still extant, written in divers 'kinds of metre.'

6

Jerom therefore must have seen likewise some of the works of Latronian, as well as of Priscillian, though none of them have come down to us.

6

c

III. Tiberian of Bætica, accused of the same heresy with Priscillian, wrote an apology for himself in a pompous and laboured style. Afterwards, when his friends had 'been put to death, weary of his exile, he changed his 'mind, and, to use the words of scripture," the dog is ' returned to his own vomit again," he persuaded his daugh'ter, though a virgin devoted to Christ, to enter into the 'state of marriage.'

The last sentence in that chapter is not clear; I find it differently translated. Du Pin: After the death of his 'friends, overcome by the tiresomeness of a long exile, he 'married a young woman consecrated to Christ.' Tillemont: At length, he was weary of his exile, and quitted 'the party which he had embraced: but falling into a new fault, (to show that he was no longer a Priscillianist,) he 'married his daughter, who had consecrated her virginity 'to Christ.' Some would have it, that he married his own daughter; but surely without reason.

IV. As Jerom in the chapter just transcribed speaks of an apology written by Tiberian, it may not be amiss to add here a chapter of Isidore of Seville, in his book of Ecclesiastical Writers, concerning Idacius, one of Priscillian's accusers. He is different from Ithacius the chronologer,

b Latronianus, provinciæ Hispaniæ, valde eruditus, et in metrico opere veteribus componendus, cæsus est et ipse Treviris, cum Priscilliano, Felicissimo, Juliano, Euchrociâ, ejusdem factionis auctoribus. Exstant ejus ingenii opera diversis metris edita. Ib. cap. 122.

Tiberianus Bæticus scripsit pro suspicione, quâ cum Priscilliano accusabatur hæreseos, Apologeticum tumenti compositoque sermone. Postea, post suorum cædem, tædio victus exilii mutavit propositum, et juxta sanctam scripturam, canis reversus ad vomitum suum, filiam, devotam Christi virginem, matrimonio copulavit. Ib. cap. 123. a Bib. des Aut. Ec. T. ii. p. 241.

e Il se lassa enfin de son exil, et quitta le parti qu'il avoit embrassé. Mais tombant dans une nouvelle faute, (pour montrer qu'il n'étoit plus Priscillianiste) il maria sa fille, qui avoit consacré sa virginité à J. C. Les Priscillianistes, Art. ix. fin. T. viii.

Matrimonio copulavit.] Id est, coëgit ut nuberet. Sic enim explicat Sophronius, ne quis accipiat illum suam ipsius duxisse filiam. Erasmi Scholion, ap. Fabric. Bib. Ec. Vid. ibid. Mariani et aliorum annotationes.

who flourished about the year 445, though S. Basnage speaks of the chronologer as one of the accusers of Priscillian. However, in another place he speaks of him agreeably to the present sentiments of other learned moderns.

Says Isidore: Idacius, a Spanish bishop, wrote a book, 'which was a sort of an apology; in which he showed the 'detestable doctrines of Priscillian, and his magical arts, and 'shameful lewdness. And he says, that one Mark of Memphis, a great magician, and disciple of Manes, was Priscillian's 'master. This Idacius, together with the bishop Ursacius, on account of the death of Priscillian, whose accusers 'they had been, was deprived of the communion of the church, and sent into banishment, where he died in the 'time of Theodosius the elder and Valentinian.'

6

So writes Isidore of Seville, if he may be relied upon. It is a pity that Jerom did not give an account of this work, if Ithacius or Idacius was the author of it. Cave! supposes Idacius, bishop of Emerita, to be meant by Isidore. Tillemont thinks, that Ithacius, whom Sulpicius calls bishop of Sossuba, was the author of this book: which to me also seems more probable; however this is a thing of small moment.

m

V. As Priscillian was the author of a sect in the fourth century, which made a great noise in the world, and subsisted a good while, I have judged it not improper to give a distinct account of him and his followers.

We are not exactly informed of the time of the rise of this sect. Tillemont placeth it in 379: and it must be

ם

• Idatius, seu Hydatius, gente Hispanus, patriâ Gallæcus, domo Lemicensis, -episcopus, claruit anno 445.-Obiit anno 468, vel sequente, admodum grandævus. Scripsit Chronicon ab anno 379, ad ann. 428,-idque postea ad annum 467 produxit. Cav. H. L. T. i. p. 438. Et conf. Pagi ad ann. 469. n. v. vi. et A. 431. n. lxi. Du Pin. T. 3. P. ii. p. 232.

Magni quidem in eâ re momenti est Idacii auctoritas, qui de miseri Priscilliani accusatoribus existimatur. Ad annum vero Theodosii ix. scribit in Chronico.-S. Basn. ann. 386. n. xi. Vid. eund. ad. ann. 387. n. vi. i Vid. ann. 468. n. v. k Idacius, Hispaniarum episcopus, cognomento et eloquio Clarus scripsit, quendam librum sub Apologetici specie: in quo detestanda Priscilliani dogmata, et maleficiorum ejus artes, libidinumque ejus probra, demonstrat: ostendens, Marcum quendam Memphiticum, magiæ scientissimum, discipulum Manis fuisse, et Priscilliani magistrum. Hic autem cum Ursacio episcopo, ob necem ejusdem Priscilliani, cujus accusatores exstiterant, ecclesiæ communione privatus, exilio condemnatur, ibique diem ultimum obiit, Theodosio majore et Valentiniano regnantibus. Isid. De Script. Ec. cap. 2.

Idacius Clarus, diversus ab Ithacio episcopo Sossubensi, urbis cujusdam, forsan Emeritæ, episcopus, claruit anno 385. H. L. T. i. p. 280.

Les Priscillianistes, art. 13. et note iv. T. viii.

n Ibid. art. 3.