in the gospels, and in the Acts of the Apostles, written by Luke; which book, he says, contains an history of the apostles to the time of Paul's coming to Rome, in the reign of Nero.

2. He says, that John, the apostle and evangelist, was banished by Domitian into the isle Patmos: where he had visions, and where he wrote the book of the Revelation, which is either foolishly or wickedly rejected by many. The Revelation is expressly quoted again, as the apostle John's, in an epistle" supposed to be his; and is referred to, or quoted by him, in other places.

3. In the same epistle is quoted the epistle of James.

4. I forbear to take notice of quotations of other books of the New Testament, as altogether needless.

5. His general divisions of the books of scripture are such as these: the P law, the prophets, the gospels and apostles; the law and the apostles; the Old and New Testament.' IV. I shall now select a few remarkable passages:

1. Eternal life,' he says,' is not to be obtained but by obedience to all God's commandments; for the scripture says, "If thou wilt enter into life keep the commandments:" [Matt. xix. 17.] therefore, as he adds, virginity alone will not avail.'

2. Sulpicius has a general and summary account of the heathen persecutions; of which some farther notice may be taken by us hereafter.

Stilichonem consulem sunt anni ccclxxii. Apostolorum Actus Lucas edidit, usque in tempus, quo Paulus Romam deductus est, Nerone imperante. Hist. Sacr. 1. 2. cap. 27, et 28. al. cap. 39, 40.

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Interjecto deinde tempore, Domitianus, Vespasiani filius, persecutus est christianos. Quo tempore Johannem apostolum atque evangelistam in Pathmum insulam relegavit; ubi ille, arcanis sibi mysteriis revelatis, librum sacræ Apocalypsis, qui quidem a plerisque aut stulte, aut impie, non recipitur, con- scriptum edidit. Ibid. cap. 31. al. 45.

De his enim beatus apostolus Joannes loquitur, quod sequantur agnum quocumque ierit. [Apoc. xiv. 4.] Ad Soror. Ep. 2. cap. 3. p. 555. edit. Jo. Cleric. Lips. 1709.

• Nolo enim tibi in hoc blandiaris, si aliqua non feceris, cum scriptum sit : • Qui universam legem servaverit, offenderit autem in uno, factus est omnium reus.' [Jac. ii. 10.] Ib. cap. 12. p. 566.

P Tibi vero, post tanta documenta, post legem, post prophetas, post evangelia, post apostolos, si delinquere volueris, quomodo indulgeri possit, ignoro. Ibid. cap. 12. p. 567. Si contra legalia et apostolica instituta

indecens aliquid aut loquuntur, aut cogitant. Ib. cap. 15. p. 569.

Domini est etiam lex Novi et Veteris Testamenti, in quibus ejus eloquia sancta refulgent. Ib. cap. 16. p. 570.

• Æterna vero vita nonnisi per omnem divinorum præceptorum custodiam promereri potest, scripturâ dicente, 'Si vis in vitam æternam pervenire, serva mandata.'-Nihil ergo virginitas sola proficiet. Ib. cap. 6. p. 558.

Vid. Hist. Sacr. 1. ii. cap. 28-32. al. cap. 40-49.

3. He supposeth, that" Simon Magus was overcome by the united prayers of Peter and Paul, after the arrival of Paul at Rome; when he had been sent thither, by order of Festus.

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4. He supposeth Peter and Paul to have had the honour of martyrdom in the general persecution of Nero, which had been ordered by the edicts of that emperor; consequently, in the year of Christ 64 or 65, when Peter was crucified, and Paul beheaded.

5. Sulpicius, in his Sacred History, complains very much of the covetousness of the christian clergy in this time; and, in another part of the same work, he speaks of the contentions which there were among the bishops, and of their pride, ambition, and other faults, to the neglect of their charge, and the great offence of good men.

6. Another thing very observable in Sulpicius Severus is, that he was against all persecution, and disliked the interposition of magistrates in things of religion: this I suppose to have appeared in the extracts formerly made from himn2 in the history of Priscillianism. It has been confirmed also by a passage, since taken notice of in the chapter of St. Jerom; which passage I would now transcribe more at large, by way of proof of the same thing: it is in one of the Dia

u Etenim tum illustris illa adversus Simonem Petri ac Pauli congressio fuit. Qui cum magicis artibus, ut se deum probaret, duobus suffultus dæmoniis evolâsset, orationibus apostolorum fugatis dæmonibus, delapsus in terram populo inspectante disruptus est. Ibid. cap. 28. al. 41.

▾ Vid. supra in eodem capite.

Hoc initio in christianos sæviri cœptum. Post etiam datis legibus religio vetabatur: palamque edictis propositis, christianum esse non licebat. Tum Paulus ac Petrus capitis damnati; quorum uni cervix gladio desecta, Petrus in crucem sublatus est. H. S. 1. ii. cap. 29. al. 41.

* Levitis enim in sacerdotium adsumtis nulla portio [terræ] data, quo liberius servirent Deo. Equidem hoc exemplum non tacitus præterierim, legendumque ministris ecclesiarum libenter ingesserim. Etenim præcepti hujus non solum immemores, sed etiam ignari mihi videntur : tanta hoc tempore animos eorum habendi cupido veluti tabes incessit. Inhiant possessionibus, prædia excolunt, auro incubant, emunt venduntque, quæstui per omnia student. At si qui melioris propositi videntur, neque possidentes, neque negotiantes, quod est multo turpius, sedentes munera expectant: atque omne vitæ decus mercede corruptum habent, dum quasi venalem præferunt sanctitatem. Sed longius quam volui egressus sum, dum me temporum nostrorum piget tædetque. H. S. 1. i. cap. 23. al. 43.

y Et nunc, cum maxime discordiis episcoporum turbari aut misceri omnia viderentur, cunctaque per eos odio aut gratiâ, metu, inconstantiâ, invidiâ, factione, libidine, avaritiâ, arrogantiâ, desidià, essent depravata, insanis consiliis et pertinacibus studiis certabant. Inter hæc plebs Dei, et optimus quisque, probro atque ludibrio habebatur. Ib. 1. ii. c. ult.

This vol. chap. cvii.

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Page 415 of this volume.

logues of our author, particularly mentioned among his works by Gennadius, in his chapter transcribed above.

The Dialogue was composed about the year 405: Postumian and Gallus are the speakers, and Sulpicius presides. Postumian had made a voyage into the east; he embarked at Narbone, and arrived at Alexandria in 401, orc 402; he was three years in Egypt and Palestine: being returned into Gaul, he gives his friends an account of what he had met with in the several parts of his voyage.

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Thenceforward,'d says Postumian, we had a prosperous voyage to Alexandria, where were very disagreeable disputes between the bishops and the monks; for there had been several synods, in which it was decreed, that none might either read or keep the works of Origen, who was esteemed a most skilful interpreter of the sacred scriptures. But the bishops had observed wild notions in his works: which his friends, not daring to defend, said, they had been fraudulently inserted by heretics; and therefore, they said, it was improper to condemn all the rest, because there were some things liable to just reprehension. Men might 'still be entrusted with the reading of his works; for, with due care and discretion, they might easily distinguish the 'interpolated opinions, from what was said agreeably to the catholic doctrine: nor was it very wonderful to find 5 some heretical opinions foisted into late writings, when 'some had attempted to corrupt the scriptures. But the bishops were peremptory, that the good and the bad ought to be all condemned together with the author: they said 'that there were more than enough books allowed by the church; and that the reading of such books ought to be prohibited which might be more hurtful to ignorant people ' than profitable to the knowing. As for myself, who have Pagi Ann. 401. n. xx. S. Sulp. Severe. art. 8. T. xii. Tillem.

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4 -prosperoque cursu septimo die Alexandriam pervenimus, ubi fœda inter episcopos et monachos certamina gerebantur, ex eà occasione, quia congregati in unum sæpius sacerdotes frequentibus decrevisse synodis videbantur, ne quis Origenis libros legeret, aut haberet : qui tractator sacrarum scripturarum peritissimus habebatur. Sed episcopi quædam in libris ipsius insanius scripta memorabant, quæ adsertores ejus defendere non ausi, ab hæreticis potius fraudulenter inserta dicebant: et ideo non propter illa quæ in reprehensionem merito vocarentur, etiam reliqua esse damnanda, cum legentium fides facile possit habere discrimen, ne falsata sequeretur, et tamen catholice disputata retineret. Non esse autem mirum, si in libris neotericis et recens scriptis fraus hæretica fuisset operata, quæ in quibusdam locis non timuisset incidere evangelicam veritatem. Adversum hæc episcopi obstinatius renitentes pro potestate cogebant recta etiam universa cum pravis et cum ipso auctore damnare; quia satis superque sufficerent libri, quos ccclesia recepisset; respuendam esse penitus lectionem, quæ plus esset nocitura insipientibus, quam profutura sapientibus. Mihi autem ex illius libris curiosius indaganti admodum multa

YOL. IV.

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• had the curiosity to read his works, I must say, that very Imany things pleased me: but I observed some things in which undoubtedly he was mistaken; which his friends 'affirm to be interpolations. I wonder how one and the same man could be so different from himself: where he is in the right, he has not an equal since the apostles; where he is in the wrong, no man has erred more shamefully. Among all his opinions, contrary to the catholic doctrine, which have been extracted out of his works by the bishops, nothing has given so much offence, as his notion concerning the recovery and salvation of the devil. On account of "this, and other such like things, taken notice of by the 'bishops, disputes have arisen. And when the bishops were not able to compose them, by a very wrong management, the Præfect ["meaning the Augustal Præfect at Alexandria"] has been called in to govern the church; by "whose armed force our friends the monks have been dis"persed, and driven into several countries: nor can they any where find a resting place, all people being prohibited by 'edicts to receive them. One thing affected me very much, that Jerom, a true catholic, and well acquainted with the ' christian doctrine, who, in former times was reckoned a 'follower of Origen, should now, with much earnestness, condemn all his writings: nor did I dare hastily to pass my own judgment. But it was said, that very learned and very excellent men differed upon- this occasion; but whether it be an error, as I think, or a heresy, as others say, it not only could not be suppressed by many censures of placuerunt: sed nonnulla deprehendi, in quibus illum prava sensisse non dubium est, quæ defensores ejus falsata contendunt. Ego miror unum eundemque hominem tam diversum a se esse potuisse, ut in eâ parte, quâ, probatur, neminem post apostolus habeat æqualem; in eâ vero, quâ jure reprehenditur, nemo deformius doceatur errâsse. Nam cum ab episcopis excerpta in libris illius multa legerentur, quæ contra catholicam fidem scripta constaret, locus ille vel maximam parabat invidiam, in quo editum legebatur, quia Dominus Jesus, sicut pro redemtione hominis, in carne venisset, crucem pro hominis salute perpessus, mortem pro hominis æternitate gustâsset, ita esset eodem ordine passionis etiam diabolum redemturus; quia hoc bonitati illius pietatique congrueret, ut qui perditum hominem reformâsset, prolapsum quoque angelum liberaret. Cum hæc atque alia ejusmodi ab episcopis proderentur, ex studiis partium orta est seditio. Quæ cum reprimi sacerdotum auctoritate non posset, scævo exemplo ad regendam ecclesiæ disciplinam præfectus adsumitur, cujus terrore dispersi fratres, ac per diversas oras monachi sunt fugati, ita ut propositis edictis in nullâ consistere sede sinerentur. Illud me admodum permovebat, quod Hieronymus, vir maxime catholicus, et sacræ legis peritissimus, Origenem secutus primo tempore putabatur, quem nunc idem præcipue vel omnia illius scripta damnaret. Nec vero ausus sum de quoquam temere judiPræstantissimi tamen viri et doctissimi ferebantur in hoc certamine dissidere. Sed tamen sive error est, ut ego sentio, sive hæresis, ut putatur, non

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the bishops, but has spread itself far and wide, and has increased by opposition abundantly more than it could • have done otherwise: this is the disturbance with which 'Alexandria was agitated when I arrived there. The bishop of the city received me very courteously, beyond my expec⚫tation, and would have detained me with him; but I had no mind to stay in a place where our friends had been so lately injured: for though perhaps it may seem, that they ought to have obeyed the bishops; nevertheless, it was by no means fit, that for this cause so many men, professing christianity, should be so grievously treated, especially by 'bishops.'

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This is the passage at full length: every candid and understanding reader is able to judge, whether it proves what it is alleged for. Mr. Tillemont, speaking of our author's Dialogues, having commended the purity of the style, and the art with which they are written, adds: It is also observed, that the judgment which he passes upon the disturbances raised in the east, upon the occasion of Origen, is very wise and very moderate.'

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CHAP. CXXI.

CHROMATIUS, BISHOP OF AQUILEIA.

1. CAVE says, that Chromatius, bishop of Aquileia, flourished about 401, and died about the year 410. But he must have been a man of note, and probably bishop, before the end of the fourth century: for Rufinus had been solum non reprimi non potuit multis animadversionibus sacerdotum, sed nequâquam tam late se potuisset effundere, nisi contentione crevisset. Istiusmodi ergo turbatione cum veni Alexandriam, fluctuabat. Me quidem episcopus illius civitatis benigne admodum, et melius quam opinabar, excepit, et secum tenere tentavit. Sed non fuit animus ibi consistere, ubi recens fraternæ cladis fervebat invidia. Nam etsi fortasse videantur parere episcopis debuisse, non ob hanc tamen causam multitudinem tantam sub Christi confessione viventem, præsertim ab episcopis, oportuisset affligi. Dial. i. cap. 3. al. c. 6, 7.

On trouve aussi que le jugement, qu'il porte, des brouilleries excitées en Orient sur le sujet d' Origène, est très sage et très modéré. S. Sulp. Sev. art. 8. T. xii. a H. L. T. i. p. 378.

b Ego, sicut et ipse et omnes nôrunt, ante annos fere triginta in monasterio jam positus, per gratiam baptismi regeneratus, signaculum fidei consecutus sum per sanctos viros Chromatium, Jovinum, et Eusebium, opinatissimos et proba